#also the slaughtering of innocent humans and eating them

[leviathanleva]

Daisy

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Pairing: Cooper Howard/The Ghoul x Fem Reader

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Description: Cooper Howard was not a kind man, he cared for nobody, but himself. Then he found you, a lost little dove, barefoot and crying, torn dress and big innocent eyes staring at him like he was a hero. He knew you’d be a burden, he knew you couldn’t survive in the wasteland, he was doing you a favor.

But he couldn’t pull the fucking trigger...

[Graphic description of gore] 🌼🌼🌼🌼🌼🌼🌼🌼🌼🌼🌼🌼🌼🌼🌼🌼🌼🌼🌼🌼🌼🌼🌼🌼🌼 Chapter 3 "The Vault"

The flickering ceiling lamps only exacerbated the grim atmosphere, but they did slightly help with finding your way. They also hid the majority of the massacre, but you weren’t blind to the horrific scenes of vault dwellers strewn up and skinned and prepared for processing. You’d wretched and convulsed at the sight, clutching at the wall for support and fighting back tears of terror, and if it hadn’t been for your empty stomach you would have most likely thrown up all over the ghoul’s boots. There was so much food around and the raiders still chose their twisted ways and treated the corpses of their victims, human beings, as cattle in need of rationing and preparation. It was engraved in them, you guessed, after living so long in an apocalyptic, hellish world, eating people was as natural to them as breathing. You tried to justify their actions even if they made no sense, but after seeing cut-open bellies and spilled intestines and dribbling blood as the corpses were hung to drain, you couldn’t.

No matter how difficult a life, nothing could pardon such barbaric actions, not when the cans of cram and sacks of tatoes were right there. The raiders didn’t kill and butcher out of need, they did it out of pleasure, they drew with blood on the walls, bludgeoned flesh and bone to a pulp, stripped skin bare, and let bodies dangle like slaughtered pigs.

The more gore was presented to you on a rusty platter, the smaller your pool of empathy became until there was nothing but the screaming aftermath of gunshots sounding right above your head. You still jittered, but didn’t flinch anymore, he had you, you were safe with him. His boots echoed with menace through the corridors, beckoning the raiders to their end, while your delicate bare feet glided over grime and glass and chaos.

He used you as bait once the raiders were close enough to spot you, your history with them causing a sudden urge in them to let go of their logic and self-preservation and charge headfirst into a shotgun barrel. You would have minded, but he was death incarnate with a weapon, and you were so set on restoring the sanctity of your vault, your home, that you were ready to do just about anything. He killed until there was nobody else with a heartbeat except you and him. He killed so casually, that you almost believed it to be normal.

Once his end of the bargain was done, you started searching, straining both mind and vision for that particular room with a false bookcase. You guided him past the vegetable field, through the cafeteria, and rushed past the school because there were too many bodies piled up for you to stomach. He followed with minor protests, but mostly kept quiet and alert, acting as a guard hound while you pursued the location of the emergency storage. It was only when you ended up in the residential wing with a confused noise that he spoke up.

“You’re lost, darlin’, admit it.”

You shot him an angsty look over your shoulder, arm outstretched in front of you as the white flashlight installed in the Pip-boy illuminated the vault hallway. When you enter the first home, just the structure of it is enough to tell that you’ve got the wrong place, you scowl, but trudge further inside anyway.

“I’m not lost.” you retort, refusing to let his remarks leave a stain on your photographic memory, and pace around the tiny complex. “It should be in this wing, I just need to find the right room.”

“Whatever you say…” he hums in mock and purses his lips, then opens the metal door wider before stepping in after you. He lets you explore, his eyes skimming with disinterest over the homey aesthetic he was so alienated from that it didn’t even ring a bell of nostalgia. His sights lock on the fridge and his feet react faster than he’d thought possible. Bingo.

The self-powered beacons perched over the whey field creep through the windows and it’s enough light to scarcely brighten the complex. It would have been a haunting sight if the ghoul wasn’t with you and a timid part of your consciousness tapped at you, reminding you that he wasn’t going to be present for much longer. You hadn’t planned on dwelling on such a thought for long, but you had no clue what to do once he was gone. Left alone to fend for your life with no skills or experience aside from dry theory accumulated from years of reading, there wasn’t much you could do except live off the remnants of the vault and try to keep the garden alive.

How would you be rid of all the corpses though?

It would take years to restore everything, or at least the parts that were salvageable, you’d never be able to swap the broken windows or replace the shattered light bulbs.

You scurried off the nasty reality of your future and proceeded to kneel in front of a shoe cabinet. Your feet were irritably sore and in desperate need of protection so you sunk your arms to the elbows in the darkness, the flashlight distorting under the pile of slippers and sandals.

“You’re not mad, mister?” you ask and turn back to find the ghoul waist-deep in the refrigerator, rummaging as a cacophony of clinking bottles and stuttering plates soundtrack his rampage. He looked almost domestic and you had to bite down on your bottom lip to keep from smiling. “Cuz I haven’t found the storage yet?”

He resurfaces at your question, a bowl of mashed tatoes and a platter of grilled cram cradled in his embrace, traces of soy milk stained his lips. He wiped his mouth on his shoulder and tossed the food on the kitchen counter before resting on his elbows while flicking his tongue.

“Plenty of Pip-boys layin’ around.” he shrugs simply and rips his glove off before sticking two thick fingers in the tatoes. “Can make a small fortune outta those.” he offers you a toothy grin before licking his fingers clean.

“Please use a fork, sir.” you grimace at his tasteless display before turning back to your task at hand.

“Mind your business, smooth-skin.” he grunts and sinks his teeth in a thick slice of cram, scarfing it down as if he’d not eaten in days. He scoffs at your faint giggle and waves you off, too high on the idea of a proper meal to care for your coquettish snip.

You continue to dig through the assortment of old shoes, relishing his vocal satisfaction as he feasts. He chews hastily, taking breaks every few bites to wash down the food with whatever juice or milk he blindly pawed at on the fridge door. After tossing away a pair of white fluffy slippers and jamming your hand against a leathery surface, you pull out a left-footed cargo boot. It’s stuck, tied by the laces to something crammed deeper in the cabinet and you feel your way until you find its twin. Once freed, you look them over with a tilted chin and a contemplative look.

They seemed remotely your size, with a pair of thick socks they’d probably fit perfectly and they were preserved and sturdy enough to withstand some broken glass.

“You think they’ll miss these?” you raise the boots in display and ask before thinking about how stupid your question was.

The boiled corn cob pauses just shy of his parted lips and he stares at you like you’d grown a second head. The silence that befalls is one of realization with a twinge of melancholy and you avert your eyes as your mouth twitches into a small frown. The shoes are lowered to your chest and you hold them close in wordless mourning, face dimming, shoulders lowering.

“Oh right…frick.”

“They’re dead, sweetheart.” he speaks softly, a hint of pity hidden beneath the layer of rasp. “Don’t think they’ll miss anythin’ anymore.”

In truth, you didn’t mourn the rest of the vault dwellers. They were strangers who’d shared the same living facility as you, there was no attachment there except for baseline human empathy. What you grieved over was your sanity, the solitude you’d be subjugated to and you’d grown accustomed to being alone, but after knowing the atrocities that had occurred and the reasoning for your lonesome existence, you doubted things would go well. You’d be forced to fend for yourself and there was no guarantee that another wave of intruders wouldn’t end up on your doorstep.

You picked at the soles of the boots absentmindedly, ignorant to the sympathetic stare targeting the back of your head.

You weren’t accustomed to caring for your needs, having been coercively babied all your life and lacking basic skills. The only bond you’d ever had was with your father and the knowledge that you’d eventually stumble upon his corpse riddled you in goosebumps. You dreaded that sight, eyes dampening at just the thought and mind failing to even picture such a sickening image.

You drag an arm over your drippy nose, sniffle and stand.

“Need socks.” was all you managed before hurrying to the bedside closet at the other end of the complex, hiding behind a wall and out of the ghoul’s prying gaze.

This was fine. You’d figure it out as you went. There was no point in worrying over things that haven’t happened yet, right?

You shone your flashlight into the closet's depths after flinging it open, searching for a ball of stretchy material, anything that remotely resembled a pair of socks. Shuffling came from the kitchen area, a throaty grunt, a few clanks, and the shattering of porcelain. Paying no mind to the ghoul’s ruckus, you sift through the clothing hangers, stopping only when an intricate floral pattern catches your eye. You tug at the cloth, pulling it off the bar and hooking a finger around the clothing hanger before straightening it out.

A dress, pretty and frilly at the bottom, littered with small hand-sewn red blooms, sparkling white and in pristine condition. It reminisced of better times when people reigned over a peaceful and bountiful land, when radiation existed only in the confines of nuclear factories and cannibalism was scarce and very taboo. Your dull expression softens with a doting smile as you coo over your new fit before tossing it on the bed.

Your search continues shortly after, rummaging and scanning, digging deeper until you find a small raft overflowing with undergarments. A pair of black tights and heavy woolen socks later, you pass an anxious glance at the edge of the wall separating you from your overly grumpy bodyguard before tugging the straps of your dress off your shoulders.

“What the hell are you doing in there!?”

“I’m changing!” you rush to answer, shimmying out of your dirty, torn attire before sitting on the edge of the bed and pulling the socks over your feet. After taking note of the now gooey gash on your ankle, you decide to postpone wearing tights until it’s been cleaned and bandaged. You swallow back a lump of anxiety and make disinfecting the wound your top priority…once you find the storage unit that is.

“Hurry up!”

Once the boots were secured, you neatly tied them up and scurried to slip on the new dress in case the ghoul decided he’d had enough of waiting and barged over in his typical unruly fashion. It fit you so well, but there was no time to enjoy yourself, you tossed the tights over the junction of your elbow and patted down the frilly edges grazing your knees.

The world came crashing when the zipper got stuck.

“Freaking fiddle sticks…”

You tried and failed to resolve the dilemma, patting blindly at your upper back, reaching over your shoulder, and coiling an arm behind your waist. Even when your fingers did manage to find the zipper again, it was jammed and no amount of vigorous tugging helped and you didn’t want to apply more force lest you cause a tear. A small whine, dainty and annoyed, bubbled in your throat and you hung your head back and stared up at the ceiling in despair. This had to be some sort of cruel joke, a jut at you for daring to find a sliver of happiness.

“Uh…mister?” you call out, weak with embarrassment as you slowly succumb to the walk of shame. You round the corner slowly, apprehension in every step and boring a shameful visage. “I need help…please.”

Your lovely bounty hunter had sprawled out on the counter, his hands resting on his now full belly, one perched up knee swaying nonchalantly as his other leg kicked dangled leisurely in the air. His hat rested over his face, obscuring his vision as he breathed slowly, in utter bliss for the first time in a long while. The shotgun once secured on his back was tucked under his neck. The empty plates were carelessly chucked to the floor when he’d made room to lie down and now you knew what all that ruckus had been caused by.

It would have been quite the heartwarming sight if you weren’t currently wallowing in self-pity.

He rouses at your beckon, sitting up and readjusting his hat and giving you his best acid scowl for disrupting his peace. Then he notices your pained expression and skittish shifting and quirks a nonexistent brow.

“The hell’d you do?”

Ah yes, the sardonic question a parent would ask their misbehaved child after yet another minor disaster. That’s exactly what you need at the moment.

“I – ” your teeth grit, jaw tightening in discomfort. A sad puppy-eyed stare plastered on your droopy features as you stand next to the counter before reluctantly turning around and brushing your hair out of the way to expose your back. “ – It’s stuck…”

A snort of laughter fills the dim complex and you shrink in utter humiliation, fussing at his reaction like the wimpy thing you’ve been demoted to. He turns in his spot and his knees encase your frame as he slopes closer.

“Can’t even dress right.” his berating smirk nips at the back of your neck and earns a sigh of defeat.

Cooper Howard wasn’t a man to regret many things and he’d done enough awful deeds to have him kicked out of a church if he ever dared set foot in one. Not putting his glove back on, however, would be one of those regrets. When his disfigured fingers dipped beneath the hem of your dress to hold it steady as he worked the zipper free, he brushed against your skin and it was so soft that he nearly missed the feeling altogether. A pang of something awfully warm wrapped around his ribcage like a vine and he was so shaken to the core that he forgot he needed to breathe.

You felt like the past, all lovely and nice and tender, as if ripped from a time he struggled to recollect and let go of both, and you were thrust in his hands and he didn’t know what the hell he was supposed to do with you. All charming smiles and sugary words and naivety that had him torn between hatred and incessant thirst for more of whatever it was you did to him. So addictive yet so detrimental.

He chalked it up to lust, a guttural craving any normal man would feel when presented with a cute little thing like you. But it wasn’t that at all. It had nothing to do with any carnal human craving.

You were a gateway to what he used to have, a walking memory of who he used to be.

It made sense if your story was true. Being tended to all your life while locked in a lab orchestrated to be your private room, it would leave anyone silk-skinned, bright-minded, and burden-free. But that didn’t ease him, it didn’t falter him from feeling like he was drowning.

You were the even tune of midnight jazz, a slice of hot apple pie, and a fresh cup of Joe on a Sunday afternoon; a little piece of heaven he’d never asked for and a cruel incarnation of damnation he’d always feared would catch up to him.

“Is it fixed?” you peep, saving him from the jaws of his mind, and look back, happily unaware of his self-destructive internal dialogue. The darkness hides the strain hovering over his distant gaze. “Did you manage?”

“ ‘Course I did.” he barks and is back to normal in an instant, pulling the zipper up before letting you go. “Done.”

He makes sure to secure his glove back on and cusses out the invasive thoughts.

“Thank you so much!” you grin with glee and throttle away like a victorious toddler. “How do I look?” you twirl with pizazz, then remember the tights dangling off your arm and bunch them up in one hand in case they took away from your dashing performance. “Don’t mind those.”

The ghoul scoffs, shaking his head in disbelief at how stupidly charming you are, and slides from the counter before reaching for his shotgun. You take his reaction as a good sign, satisfied with your new, clean look, and brush down the dress with the back of your hand.

“Les go.” he clicks his tongue at you, motioning with his head before fiddling to load his weapon. “Can gawk at yourself plenty when I’m gone.”

His remark receives no pushback. You follow suit, back into the benevolent corridor with hanging dead lamps, stepping carefully next to him with Pip-boy pointed straight ahead. It felt good to not have to constantly worry over a stray piece of debris catching on your feet anymore. Now your footsteps sang in tandem with your bounty hunter’s albeit much lighter and more frequent. With eyes darting from wall to wall, you peeked into each adjacent living complex. The sting in your ankle continued, snapping at your every move and your grip on the tights hardened. Your nails sank into the material for purchase as impatience nibbled at your nerves.

Apartment after apartment. Nothing even remotely resembled the room you were looking for, but it had to be here somewhere. The vault plans didn’t lie and neither did your memory.

You nearly tripped over a stray cable while ogling a bright pink suite layered with fuzzy rugs.

“You sure you ain’t just sendin’ us on a wild goose chase?” the ghoul asks while cracking open another steel door for you to inspect, then dips his hat and lilts “Ain’t gonna shoot you, sweetheart. Don’t need to lie anymore.”

“I wasn’t lying, mister.” you look up at him with hurt and he keens, blinking slowly at you and deciding to leave it at that.

Whether it was due to exhaustion or that look, he wasn’t sure.

If you were this set on proving to him there was a storage full of medical supplies and provisions he wasn’t going to stop you. There was plenty of food and drink to stay a while and his current bounty wasn’t notorious enough to top a fresh bed and a full meal. The caps weren’t worth it compared to what you’d offered him and he had enough vials to last him a while before any feral symptoms started poking through.

“It’s somewhere here, I know it is, these are just the wrong rooms. But the map showed it was in the living quarters to the north. It has to be a bigger space and with a bookcase in – ”

A hand clasped gently over your mouth, cutting your ramble short.

The ghoul grips your arm and shines the Pip-boy at the end of the hallway, the tense look on his face making your stomach knot. He takes one step forward, leaving you to linger behind him and you would’ve liked to believe it was to protect you, but it was most likely to get you out of the way.

You hear his gloved hold tighten around his shotgun and bite back the need to ask him what he’d picked up that you hadn’t. You never noticed the almost silent steps that had slowly crept closer and yelped when you were roughly tossed behind him as he spun around. The shot nearly left you deaf and the bloodied kukri barely missed your shoulder, having been a hair away from the strap of your dress.

You shriek along with the gargled gasp, latching onto the bounty hunter’s coat. The loud thump that followed made you duck and wrinkle your nose.

“Oh my jeez. Oh my God!” you glimpse from behind him reluctantly, forcing your tightly shut eyes open.

The raider twitched, clutching his blown-to-bits shoulder as a puddle of blood formed beneath him. He choked for air, coughing out a storm of crimson and it made your knees weak. The smell of gunpowder was sharp and overwhelming and your head spun with a nauseating speed.

“Guess I missed one.” the bounty hunter leers and the absolute insouciance at his actions sent a chill up your spine. He unclasps the hunting knife strapped to his belt and twirls it between his fingers, then tosses you a warning glance. “Look away, sweetheart. Ain’t wastin’ another bullet on this shit.”

The heels of his boots clinked closer to the raider convulsing on the floor and with a shaky sniffle, you forced your legs to move. The pleas of a desperate man rendered defenseless and feeble, the churring taunts of his merciless killer who squatted over his prey with blade readied. A sickening noise punched you right in the gut, so raw and revolting that you covered your ears the moment you stumbled into another suite and slid down behind the front door. Clutching at the sides of your head, fingers curled and nails delved into your scalp to ground you, you died a little inside.

The reality of your existence, the consequences for being alive hit you full force, ripping you out of the tranquility that had befallen both you and the ghoul. Peace never lasted, and neither did joy, not in a world bathed in chaos and destruction.

The two curt knocks on the door made you flinch.

“Come on out, scaredy cat.”

“I’ll – ” with a twisted tongue and a clenched throat, you murmur out words to keep him away because you didn’t want to see the blood he was wiping off his knife. “ – I’ll be right there. Just looking…for a false latch or something.”

What a horrible excuse…but he didn’t question it and you were so thankful.

His steps crinkle over broken glass and pieces of discarded metal plates. The tension lifts off your shoulders when he leaves with a grunt. You rub at your face with a timid breath, jaw easing as your lips part to accommodate your forceful inhales. The gloom of the apartment embraced you in your self-indulgent grovel.

To imagine someone lived here only a day ago was to concede to hysteria.

He saved your life again. And still, you were left shaken and bothered and speechless and burdened by what would have happened if he hadn’t been there to rip you away from death’s claws. The possibility of there being more raiders skulking about hadn’t been a thing until this one nearly chopped your arm off. Your arm was still there though, intact and function. All because of him. A dilapidated, volatile guardian angel that looked like a grilled chicken and sounded like a fizzled-out radio station and he meant more to you than anything ever had in your short, secluded life. What were you supposed to do without him when he finally left and you were sealed into a blood-soaked, corpse-ridden underground bunker with just your thoughts as company?

You slapped at your puffed-out cheeks ferociously.

This was fine.

It wasn’t fine, but there was nothing to be done, you’d work with what you had, you’d manage somehow. You had to.

The ghoul whistled you over, loud and clear enough for you to hear even while tucked away safely in your corner. Enough spiraling. You stood and with a determined huff, exited the complex only to see him standing in front of an open door with crossed arms and a tilted head. He noticed you from the corner of his eye and nudged his chin.

“This it?”

You poke your nose inside the spacious room.

It was the vault president’s office, completely untouched and eerily still, made to resemble the quarters of high-ranking officials from the olden days. Thin sheets of wood were plastered over the walls and the floor was carpeted and clean, the large windows overlooked the fields and dining area. An elegant leather chair was neatly set behind the paper-ridden desk in the center of the room, and yellowing files peak from every single drawer and bookcase. Everything seemed organized in spotless order, even the mugs on the coffee table were arranged corresponding to their color. There were so many paintings strewn about, past vault presidents, men and women in distinct white coats, same as the one your dad had always worn, supposedly scientists.

He leaned against the doorframe as you barged inside, watching your newfound zeal with a half-smile.

You pressed the tip of your middle finger to the wall and slowly extended your other arm at a precise angle, then moved it barely to the left. With a calculative spark imbued in your eyes, you take deliberate steps and move your stiff arms mechanically as you work out the location of the hidden storage. It looked ridiculous and you were well aware as you maneuvered about like a possessed puppet, but without any tools to point the way this was your only crutch.

“Three feet to the left, diagonal to the glass case with the cat sculpture. One step back and turn to what should be west. North should be to the right, then. And…”

“There.” you state once your hand points at a particularly overdecorated bookcase. “That’s it. Has to be.” you step towards it with determination, throwing away documents and an old plastic globe until there was enough space to grab at the shelves. It creaks when you give it a solid tug to test its stability. You bite your lip in contemplation before turning back to the ghoul. “Think you can move this, mister?”

“You better be right, sweetheart.” he tutted, but complied, pushing himself off the doorframe before joining you. He towers over you and rests his hands against the polished wood. “Move.”

You did as told and gave him some room.

He managed to slide his fingers against the back of the bookcase and spread out his legs before letting go of a throaty groan and pulling with all his strength. Your knee jittered with the need to step in and help, but you hesitated, succumbing to your manners and letting him do the heavy lifting. The last thing you wanted was to insult his capabilities or hurt his man-pride.

The case toppled with a thunderous crash and its contents spilled over the carpet, some trinkets bounced off your boot and rolled under the desk. The wooden planks that had been hidden behind it were slightly caved in compared to the rest. A thick carving resembling a door was engraved in them along with a small rectangular shape just a few inches to the side.

This was it.

“Hallelujah.” he chuckles and kneads his shoulder while flexing it, brows raised and eyes settled on the hidden entrance and glistening with wonder. “Guess you weren’t lyin’ after all.”

You clumsily step over the mountain of books and smashed wood, arms extended for balance until you’re close enough to press down on the rectangle. With a whirling hiss, the wood slides to the side and a hole perfectly shaped like a Pip-boy appears. You stuck your hand in without a second thought, beyond impatient and on the verge of crying because your ankle was burning so intensely you wanted to just rip it off.

The door gave way with a few audible clicks and the storage lit up instantly, you guessed the lamps didn’t depend on the vault’s fusion cores, another little trickery to keep this place hidden. The power management engineers would have most likely noticed the excess electricity being used for a room that wasn’t supposed to exist. A smart move and also for nothing, everyone was dead.

The cynic in you cackled.

You were quick to rip your hand free and enter, spotting the hefty array of medical supplies gathered over a metal cart, driven by pain and discomfort and lacking the self-control to keep it a secret any longer.

“Well, I’ll be…” the ghoul gapes at the overflowing storage, pleasantly surprised and nodding to himself. “Consider your debt repaid, missy.” he plunges his knife into a sack of tatoes and promptly empties it.

His arm swipes over a metal shelf of stimpaks, greedily bunching them up and into the sack as he licks his teeth at the upcoming profit.

When you don’t reply to his remark he finally takes his gaze off the mounds of supplies and medicine and looks to you.

You’re a mussing mess, abrupt jitters causing bottles of pills and packages of bandages to pile at your feet as you scour for something specific. Initially, he opts to leave you be and focus on his own task, but when a disheartened noise slips past you he caves.

“The hell’s got you scramblin’ about like a cornered rat?”

You wince and turn back with a trembling frown. Your search had come out fruitless, the plan was spoiled at the absence of any antibiotics and you internally cursed for not stopping by the med-bay earlier and checking there first. Then again, you needed a key card and you weren’t fond of checking the pockets of decapitated vault residents just for that. But your open wound didn’t care for your antics. Now your ankle was probably red, still oozing and by how it rubbed against your sock, it was even more irritated and sickeningly sticky.

His stern look was relentless and you sucked in a breath before speaking.

“I can’t find any antibiotics…for my ankle.” you swallow a sob like a child caught red-handed trying to sneak past a broken vase. “The cockroaches – One of them bit me or cut me I think and… And it was fine at first, but then it started getting infected and I thought I’d find something here to help, but I don’t think only spirit will help so I thought antibiotics, but I can’t find any and it hurts so bad now – ”

You halted when his jaw stiffed and did nothing when he stomped close enough for you to feel the heat radiating off him. The sack was slumped by you and as he glared you simply averted your eyes to the floor.

“Sit.” he commands in a rigid tone, forcing you on your rump as the coldness of the tile floor seeps through your dress. “ ‘N take it off.” the tip of his boot nudges your foot before he tugs his pants up and squats in front of you with elbows resting on his thighs.

It’s only after you slip off your now-ruined sock that he cringes in annoyance and grabs your calf to turn it for a better view. Angry red outlined the open gash and the dead skin that still clung to it was soaked in colorless stickiness. He pressed on the side of the wound, shooting down your attempt at escaping with a scalding look, and more goo was excreted.

Radroaches were clean creatures, he’d seen them grooming themselves more than hunting for food. However, being mutated by radiation did tend to add some spice to their bites and you trudging around barefoot for a good full day had only added to the accelerated decay. Nasty little cut that was.

“Stupid git.” he hisses and stuffs a hand in the sack. “Nothen’ a lil stimpak can’t fix though. And lucky for you, we hit a goldmine.” the large syringe glints under the blaring white lights and he pushes at the base to snuff out any air bubbles before lowering it to your calf. “Now hold still.”

The sight of the needle makes you stiffen, a plethora of memories flashing past your widened eyes, and you’re overtaken by such a raw desire to get away that you nearly kick him off balance in your struggle.

Too many years stuffed full of constant medications and transfusions and scalpels and cuts and taking blood samples and fucking needles. All your life you’d suffered through nothing but medical treatments and the first day spent away from such hell had you realized just how traumatizing it had all been. Obligated to just take it because there was no alternative, you were never given a choice in the matter. You weren’t ready for this again, seeing that stupid needle so close to your skin made your heart drop in your stomach.

“Wait. Mister, wait. Wait!” you grab onto the metal bars of the cart as his grip on your calf tightens painfully.

“Quit fussin’!” he all but growls and pulls you back in place once you’d made some progress in slipping away. His tolerance for your display vaporizes when you land another inadvertent kick to his knee. He lets your calf go and reaches for the back of your head, grabbing onto a fistful of your hair and jostling you still. He’s right in your face and spitting acid. “What the hell’s wrong with you?!”

“The needle.” you hiccup and wrap your sweet little fingers around his forearm. Tears swell in your eyes from both pain and fear and it does something to him again, but he doesn’t relent. “The needle…I can’t – ” you whimper and plead, crumbling in his hold. “Please don’t, mister…”

He’s taken aback. The menace drains from his gaunt features, baring snarl gone, and his grip on your hair loosens.

“You’re kiddin’ me.” his eyes roll from you to the stimpak as if you’d said the most mind-blowing bullshit he’d ever heard. He dangles the wretched thing in front of you, watching you follow it incessantly, not even blinking. “You’re scared o’ this?”

You make a noise of displeasure and avert your face when he brings the stimpak closer. For once his mocking laugh isn’t welcomed. When he’s assured you’re not just being a brat and actually hold a crippling distaste for the needle, the ghoul pulls away with a scoff.

He thinks, rubbing his knuckles against his jaw while you sit between his knees, immobilized by his grip.

“Well shit...” he lets you go and you bonelessly slump back into the cart.

He’s not one for comfort, doesn’t know what words to use to help you overcome your dilemma; he can’t just jam the stimpak in and risk striking a bone, can’t slide it in gently because you’ll go into another fit. He could just leave…

“Look at me.” he beckoned and snapped his fingers at you. When that didn’t work, he grabbed your face and squished your cheeks, forcing you to obey by giving you a sharp jerk. He leans close enough for you to feel his breath hit your nostrils and of course, it smells like cram. “I said look. At. Me.”

Your eyes go from dazed to bulging when you feel the needle press back against your calf. A pathetic ensemble of bleats accompanies your heaving chest and you hold onto his wrist like it’s the only thing keeping you from dying on the spot.

“Shhhh – shhhh – shhh, ‘s okay sweetheart.” he hushes you with peculiar softness, stifling your meek complaints and scolding your eyes back to his own when he sees your attention dart down to your leg. You wince briefly at the prickle and his pinkie and ring finger leave your cheek and settle at the edge of your jaw, pressing down and rubbing ever so lightly. With an even push of his thumb, the syringe is emptied. “There you go…” he gives your cheek a good pat and leans away, resting on his knees. The pack of gauze you’d carelessly tossed away in your rampage was picked up and ripped open. “The good news is, you don’t need no stitches…but how d’ you intend to survive if you can’t even use a stimpak?”

“I’ll…” you smile in pain and it’s so crooked it rivals his. “I’ll figure it out.”

Tag list: @bountydroid @judgementdays-girl

#cooper howard #cooper howard x reader #cooper howard x you #fallout tv series #the ghoul fanfic #the ghoul x you #the ghoul x reader #the ghoul fallout #x reader #fallout the ghoul #fallout show #the ghoul

[creepling]

Johnny fucking Stockholm’d!Reader in the back of one of the old cars behind the family house? 👀 In one of your mini fics you mentioned him taking her out to the sunflower fields, maybe that’s when it happens?

busted cars and sunsets - j. slaughter / 1k

an: hey i kinda went astray from relating it to the sunflower field drabble but it still has all that other good stuff you asked for!! i also ended up writing more than i thought so i hope you like it<33

tags: smut. MDNI. gn!reader. stockholm syndrome (kinda??). descriptions of trauma. canon-mentions of violence and cannibalism. innocent, sheepish reader. johnny is surprisingly gentle and nice?? but it might be a bluff. making out. grinding. fucking in a car. doggystyle. mentions of kidnapping.

Johnny was looking everywhere for you. Nancy was calling for supper, and you weren’t in the shed like you said you would be. He tried not to think about it too much, the thought of you running away or trying to escape. Maybe you got distracted or went inside for a drink. The sun was setting, and Johnny’s worrying crept up, forming a lump in his throat.

You were sheepish. At least you have been with the Slaughter family. Every minor squeak or crack sent you scattering. Maybe it was the trauma of trying to escape the house, the first time you ate human flesh, or the fact that the family kidnapped you. It’s been so long since the incident that you have begun to accept your fate and grow fond of your captures. Are people still looking for you? Or have they given up like they did with Maria? The thoughts clouded your mind, and you hugged your legs in the back of the rusted car in the Slaughter’s yard.

Johnny realised real quick where you were hiding. He noticed that you liked hiding, growing attached to your company. Johnny wished you grew attached to him, but adjusting to a new life takes a while. That is how he perceived it: you were lucky, the family liked you, and they spared your life. Now you’re one of them, and he can make you happy. Johnny made his way towards the cars, the ones too far gone to fix, and peered inside the busted-out window to see your trembling frame.

“Hey, sweetheart. Why you all bundled up in here?” Johnny said, surprisingly, in a soothing voice. You peeked your head up, giving a meek smile. You like it when he speaks softly. It is the only thing that makes you feel safe. His effort on tenderness is bearable, given the circumstances.

“Nubbin’s trap set off while I was picking flowers. I got scared,” You say. Johnny knew you were telling the truth from the look in your eyes. He motioned his hand to your ankle, checking for injury. “Don’t worry,” You reassure, cringing, “It didn’t get me.”

Johnny let out a stressful sigh. “That darn idiot. I’m gonna beat him over the head,” Johnny spat under his breath. He looked over at you, seeing you back into the corner as he displayed anger. He relaxed his cold stare and slowly opened the rusty door, sliding into the seat next to you and resting his hand on your knee.

“You got nothing to be scared about. No one’s gonna hurt you no more. Nubbins is just being reckless with his traps. Y’know, he puts them around to catch the rabbits.” Johnny reassures, levelling with reason in hopes you calm you down.

You sat silently until another call for supper came from inside the house. You looked at Johnny, twiddling a piece of string from your shirt. “I’m not really hungry,” You mutter, “Sorry…”

Johnny nodded in understanding, rubbing your calf with a gentle stroke. “That’s all right, darlin’. You can eat whenever you feel like it,” He knew Nancy wouldn’t like that much, but he certainly would protect you if she nagged you for it.

“Can we stay in here for a while? Watch the sunset?” You enquire, the thought of it making you smile. Appreciating the small things became a method to keep your sanity. It also made excuses for being around the house, a place you find troubling.

“Alright, but we go inside once the sun’s down, okay?” Johnny reasoned, and you nodded happily. 

You crawl over to Johnny and rest your head on his chest, spotting the sun meeting the horizon at your eye level. Johnny only had his eyes on you, his fingers playing with the ends of your hair, his tongue sliding along his bottom lip in thought.

“It’s beautiful,” You mutter, charmed by the colours in the evening sky.

“You’re beautiful,” Johnny claimed, his body sensing bashfulness prevail over you.

You look into his eyes, a slight smirk on Johnny’s face as he admires your innocence. Subconsciously, Johnny’s lips lean closer to yours. You stood still like time was frozen, fluttering your eyes shut when he kissed you.

He was rough but passionate as if to prove something to you. His hands explore you, cupping the back of your neck, grasping your thighs, tracing circles on the small of your back. You would be lying if you didn’t find it pleasant, giggling as he nibbled on your bottom lip, whispering sweet nothings. Your hips grind against him, feeling Johnny’s hot breath on your cheek as he gasped. 

“Oh, I wouldn’t do that, darlin’,” He chuckled, “You’ll get me worked up,”

“I can’t help it,” You laughed, your words conflicting with your innocent tone.

“Keep going,” Johnny purred, resting his hands on your waist and guiding your hips. You comply, watching the lustful stare in his eyes as he admires the movement of your body. You hike your shirt up, teasing him as you expose your stomach, slowly raising it until your chest greets his stare. Johnny gazes longingly up at you before entangling you into his hands and kissing you roughly.

“I need you so bad,”

The sun was greeting the horizon, the sky a deep tangerine, matching the tarnished colouring of the car. Your hand presses against the window, and a deep moan breaks loose from your confounded expression.

“Keep going, please, please-” You plead, gripping the busted leather seats to adjust to Johnny’s length inside you.

Johnny hunches over your body, teeth scraping down your spine, holding you in place with his rough hands. Estranged strands of hair sticking to his forehead. Sweat highlights the arc of his muscles.

“You’re so good for me,” He pants. He had to make this quick; otherwise, the family would set out looking for him. He feels you tightening around him, making him bend further down and grip your shoulders, burying his face into your neck.

Johnny’s groans grew husky, sending shivers down your spine. Arching your back, you grind into him. The profoundness of his cock inside you makes you fumble over your moans.

“Yes, baby. That’s it,” Johnny encouraged, rutting into you. “Keep fucking going.”

The rate of Johnny shagging into you eventually lends him his climax, and yours perfectly lines up with his. Both of your clothes are hanging by threads on your bodies. You collapse in each other's arms. His arms engulf you as you straddle his lap, your eyes drunk with lust, admiring your kidnapper, your disastrous love affair. 

“You’ll never leave me, will you?” Johnny asked, staring into your soul, soaking in everything about you.

“I would never,” You breathe out.

“Promise?” Johnny pleaded, brushing a strand of hair from your glistening face, basking in your doe-like glow.

“I promise,” You whisper, kissing the scars on his knuckles. Your mind goes astray, maybe from the lustrous high or because you made a promise you might not keep.

#johnny slaughter x reader #johnny slaughter #johnny sawyer x reader #johnny sawyer #tcm game #texas chainsaw massacre #creepling.brainrot

[eretzyisrael]

Israel’s Enemies Tell Five Big Lies

Following the worst massacre of Jews since the Holocaust, antisemites mount a series of vicious attacks, threats and malicious lies against Jews and Israel

With no shame or sign of humanity, the enemies of Israel have doubled down on their insistence that Israel is an illegitimate state that must be destroyed and that the savage slaughter of 1,200 innocent Jews was justified—all based on five “Big Lies” about the Jewish state.

What are the facts?

The world for Jews and Israel will never be the same. Wellesley College students receive official messages saying Zionists (i.e. most Jewish students) are not welcome in the school’s dorms. Hamas official Ghazi Hamad in a TV rant swears Hamas will repeat October 7 over and over until Israel is annihilated. West Bank Palestinian activist Ahed Tamimi says “What Hitler did to you was a joke—we will drink your blood and eat your skull.”

While Hamas’s October 7 atrocity shattered the hope of many Palestinian supporters, causing them to rethink their positions, the event only ignited an explosion of hate from other of Israel’s enemies. Tens of thousands of demonstrators made clear they no longer support two states living side by side in peace. Rather they demand “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free . . . by any means necessary”—meaning, clearly, slaughter of civilians.

Power of Big Lies: Though Israel was the victim of a mass murder of innocent Jews, its enemies blame the Jewish state—not only for the Hamas massacre, but also for responding in defense. The reasons many blame Israel for the atrocity are based on five Big Lies. Big Lies were used by Nazi leader Goebbels, who noted that if he told an outrageous lie often enough, people would begin to believe it. Alternatively, if you use truth as a basis for your judgments, you may these facts useful:

Lie #1: Israel is a colonial state that stole Palestinian land. A colonizer is a foreign nation that conquers and exploits another nation. First, the Palestinians have never controlled any land in Palestine: They were also never a nation. Nothing was stolen. Second, Jews are the indigenous people of the land of Israel. They have lived there continuously for 3,000 years and had two commonwealths for over 1,000 years: They are not foreigners. No colonial state.

Lie #2: Israel commits genocide. Genocide is the intent to destroy a national, ethnic, racial or religious group by killing its members. Israel does not, nor has ever, targeted innocent Palestinian civilians for killing—no mass murders, no pogroms. All Palestinian civilian deaths have occurred as collateral damage while fighting terrorists who hide in residential or other public areas. Tellingly, the population in in and around Israel has mushroomed since Israel’s founding in 1948—from about 700,000 to seven million today: Zero genocide.

Lie #3: Israel practices apartheid. Apartheid is a system of legalized racial segregation in which one racial group is deprived of political and civil rights. Israel has no laws or policies separating or limiting the rights of any of its citizens—including two million Arab-Israeli citizens—nor any Palestinians outside Israel. Political and civil rights of all Palestinians outside Israel are controlled by their respective dictatorships, who allow virtually no freedoms, such as speech or the vote. No apartheid.

Lie #4: Israel is committing war crimes. War crimes include torture, hostage taking, acts of terrorism, rape and intentional targeting of civilians. While Hamas committed all these acts on October 7, Israel commits none. Though some media bristle at what they consider excessive civilian deaths during Israeli military efforts, in fact, Israel attacks only military structures and personnel—never civilian-only targets. Unfortunately, Hamas places its fighters in dense residential areas or in tunnels beneath them, endangering civilians. No Israeli war crimes.

Lie #5: Israel brutally oppresses the Palestinians daily. Oppression is the malicious exercise of power to discriminate against some groups. Because Israel completely exited Gaza in 2005, it has no power over of the daily lives of Gazans. However, because of Hamas’s continuous terror, especially efforts to kill Jews and destroy the Jewish state, Israel and Egypt have placed Gaza under a strict blockade to prevent terror attacks. Likewise, because of the Oslo Accords, Israel and the Palestinian Authority share governance of Judea and Samaria (the West Bank). Thus, Israel plays virtually no role governing Palestinians daily lives and only enters Palestinian-controlled areas when terrorists flee to and hide in them. No oppression.

Above all, Israel and the U.N. have made numerous offers of land for an independent Palestinian state. Unfortunately, the Palestinians have turned down five offers of land for peace since 1948, three of them over the last 23 years. Apparently, their dream of conquering Israel “from the land to the sea” is more important.

The bestiality of the October 7 massacre shocked us—beheadings, incineration, rape, torture, heartless executions, brutal kidnappings. Even worse, the gates have opened to unlimited Jew hatred on American streets and campuses—to condoning savagery with the excuse of Palestinian liberation . . . based on utter lies about the Jewish state. But Hamas and the haters should know that “Never Again,” means fighting and defeating evil forever.

#big lies #israel's enemies #israel #hamas #gaza

[perpetualexistence]

Sea Monster AU: "If you hate this so much, why is there a fire in your eyes?"

Putting a song here about becoming/being a cannibal feels about right for a duo killing people and treating them like animals to the slaughter.

Originally I was just going to call this part 'The Routine', but then the idea for an Alejandro quote struck me and I had to change it. There is no scene in this part, but if there were this quote would certainly be there.

It ended up being harder to write than I originally thought. I couldn't figure out why until I realized I was trying to force a singular scene that would serve as a face-heel turn. When I decided to scrap it and go by death by a thousand paper cuts, suddenly writing everything else flowed a lot smoother.

Who knew that was how editing worked? You learn something new ever day when it's your first time writing something long-form.

But yeah, herein lies the beginning of Noah's descent into darkness! It also includes Noah's backstory in this AU. You'll probably notice it's got some inspiration from Slippery Slopes. What can I say? I'm not immune to an angsty Noah past. I do hope it's different enough!

Content warnings: Slight mention of eating people. And of course, Alejandro being manipulative. But again, to be the norm for this AU. Also! This relationship gets toxic and codependent at times, and this is one of those times. This part shows one of the foundations for that.

I will say though, the next part does get lighter!

Enjoy!

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The problem with Noah's suggestion is that he isn't a really good actor. Alejandro's smart enough to recognize this might be a problem before he tries to trick the first ship, and asks Noah to demonstrate how he'd try to convince someone that he's helpless. It goes about as well as you'd expect.

Alejandro decides he needs to teach him acting somewhat otherwise this plan is dead in the water. There's risks in teaching him how to lie, but if he's the teacher then he can learn Noah's tells so he'll still be able to read him.

The lessons are going as okay as they can be until Noah starts recognizing a few of these techniques as things that Alejandro did during the first few days of their meeting. He can't help but ask "Oh, like how you did with me?" because his mouth runs faster than his brain sometimes. This makes Alejandro feel A Certain Way about his past actions, but he tampers that down and insists that it was true with Noah.

They blitz their way through this tension by avoiding pursuing the discussion. Eventually Alejandro feels that Noah's ready enough, and so they begin in earnest.

Alejandro and Noah develop a pretty decent routine of Noah scouting out ships for Alejandro to either eat or spare. Noah has a walkie talkie/ear piece that he's connected to a radio that sits on the ship Alejandro uses to push him. That way he can subtly announce code for 'leave this one alive' or 'take no survivors'. Noah also makes sure to break any lines of communication that Alejandro wouldn't be able to take out in time. This includes scrambling sonar that would detect something as large as Alejandro getting too close. Once Noah gives the signal to begin, he makes sure that he's above deck. Alejandro fakes eating Noah first to cover their tracks in case any of the survivors realize that Noah showed up on the ship suspiciously before a giant eel showed up.

Alejandro originally intended on making a lot more ‘mistakes’ with innocents because he assumed that Noah was probably using the vigilantism as an excuse to not let Alejandro eat any humans. But Noah’s very aware that Alejandro probably would pull some bullshit like that, so he only sparingly requests for survivors if someone was nice enough to him. Yet Alejandro’s enjoying the vigilante side of eating people who deserve it much more than he’d anticipated since he really only agreed to it to make Noah happy. He doesn't know why exactly, but he takes more pleasure than normal when he's able to kill someone who was rude or cruel to Noah. 

Meanwhile Noah's finding himself taking more and more pleasure in taking people down without realizing it. Noah finds himself on the receiving end of things such as being yelled at for being a stupid tourist by someone who's from out of town, to people trying to extort him for money to get back to land, he's starting to find it particularly hard to be as guilty as he was. This is partially due to him doomscrolling the worst things about humanity to help himself feel better about what he's doing. It's also partially due to the fact that for as messed up as it is, there's a part of him that enjoys the attention that Alejandro's giving him. Mind you, he hates being treated like a possession with no autonomy. But he does like being treated as someone precious who deserves the best. Plus he's not immune to Alejandro's charm and appearance. Made even worse by the fact that Alejandro being bigger means that he can see it in more detail.

An important thing in this AU, and the reason why Noah's slipping into a path of darkness, is that Noah in this AU starts off as Season 1 Noah. There's no Owen or Team E-scope to help him see the good in humanity. He's someone more passive in that he's easily influenced by those around him. And when that person is Alejandro? It doesn't do good things for one's moral compass.

It doesn't help that Alejandro's not only encouraging Noah viewing humanity as the worst, but he's rewarding it. Even though it's not part of their deal, Alejandro starts gifting Noah treasures from the ship after he wrecks them. He saves the prettiest for himself in an underwater cave where he keeps the spoils of his accomplishments. He just gives Noah the ones that are profitable for humans. Plus a few shinies. He wants his (precioso) hunting partner to look the part of someone successful. Noah's appearance is a reflection on both of them after all.

Noah knows this is a bribe to keep going. But he's also pretty desperate for money. His dad left when he was young and took most of his money with him, leaving his mom to raise nine kids all on her own. She and the eldest sibling took as many jobs as they could, but they still had to resort to a loan shark to stay afloat. The second and third eldest siblings became pseudo-parents to their younger siblings because the family certainly couldn't afford babysitters. Noah's mother hated resorting to this, but with little help from extended family there wasn't much choice if she wanted to keep the family together.

Noah actually ended up becoming a breadwinner in the family. Once upon a time little Noah had a poetry phase. He'd read it, and he loved to write it. He'd write out his feelings about the shitty family situation to cope. It was cathartic. Over time his love for writing it faded. Not out of anything negative. That poetry was there when he needed it most, but now it was just time for him to find something else. His interests in literature just changed. The thing was, one of his siblings found out about a writing competition with prize money and decided to submit one of his works without him knowing.

He won. It was a very decent chunk of money that helped the family that month. He knew the family needed it, so he started to throw himself into more writing competitions. He started to notice a pattern real quickly. His older, angstier poems were the ones that one prizes. The newer ones, his lighter ones, didn't. He only had a limited amount of the older poems he could submit before he'd have to make newer ones. But the family still needed money. So he forced himself into writing poetry (a medium he no longer cared for) about a time in his life he hated to discuss.

That combination created a gifted kid burnout who closed himself off to force himself into a state of misery that could be profited from. His mom and siblings would try to reach out to him because they could see that he was having a terrible time with this. But the bitterness he felt towards writing extended into bitterness towards his family for putting him into this situation. It's not fair. He knows it's fair. But emotions don't often go by what's fair.

By the time he met Alejandro, he no longer had to write. Most of his siblings had left the house, or had income of their own. They'd all chip in to help their mom with paying off the loan shark. Noah no longer has to be the breadwinner. But the damage was already done, and that bitterness had never been resolved. That bitterness made it hard to keep friends, because it seeped through even in places he didn't mean it to.

So when someone new enters his life that actually cares about him for himself? Who stays even when he's bitter? He'd be a fool not to do everything in his power to keep them. Even if it means he'll have to sacrifice others to do it. At least it isn't himself this time. And if he now has a means of taking power back from other people who have wronged him? He'll use it.

Alejandro doesn't know about any of this of course. Noah has told him a little, and that little is enough for Alejandro to make some assumptions. But not the whole story. As far as Alejandro knows or cares, all is going according to Alejandro's plan of molding Noah to be just as ruthless as he is so they can properly rule this lake together.

And then the power of friendship just had to come and throw a wrench into things.

#sea monster au #total drama #td noah #td alejandro #giant/tiny #td #total drama noah #td alenoah #td au #total drama au #g/t #g/t writing #perp writing #alenoah #no beta we die like men #toxic relationship #codependency #total drama alejandro #horror au #total drama horror au #td horror au

[nativehueofresolution]

marius justifies his decision to groom armand for vampirism by basically saying armand was doomed before he met marius, so then anything marius did to him could only be a form of salvation. compare his agonizing over turning bianca to the plans he hatched for grooming armand over years for his role.

when thinking about why it's acceptable to do this to armand and not bianca or botticelli (lol), marius tells himself there's no loss here- armand was already marked for slaughter, a 'child utterly lost to life who could be reclaimed specifically for the blood'.

yet, he also seems very taken with the idea that armand is angelic and innocent - someone he mold into his brand of killer, unlike bianca, who was already a murderer.

he romanticizes armand's starvation and poor health to make him the picture of an innocent child, and the fact he's enslaved means marius can pretend he's rescuing him. he even toys with the idea that armand could 'earn' his freedom and leave if he was good enough, though he is at least self aware enough to admit he wouldn't have actually done it. he has poor enough circumstances marius can tell his conscience he's giving armand a better life and yet is enough of a blank slate that marius can mold him into his idea of a perfect companion.

and he expects this lack of ties and familiarity with death will make armand detached from humanity, perfectly set him up for vampire life. but it doesn't, not how marius wants. when armand reunites with his family and is deeply moved, marius is taken aback, and seems disturbed armand has a difficult time parting with them.

he becomes obsessively jealous of armand's father, admitting he expected armand to "look upon his family with detachment" and didn't know how to handle the fact that his power and wealth somehow did not outweigh familial attachment. the idea that armand loves his father more than him eats away at marius, though it soothes his ego some that armand never tries to leave despite his melancholy.

still when they return, marius scraps his plans of taking armand to see akasha and enkil. he needs to be 'more advanced', 'more wise', and 'more nearly perfected'. he begins to doubt armand is taking in his lessons on philosophy and civilization and instead muses that it might take centuries for armand to reach the level of detachment from humanity marius would like to see. and when bianca admits armand confided in her about the secrets of vampirism, he 'trembles with rage' - even though the fact she knows is what allows bianca to save marius's life!

ironically, armand does become incredibly detached from humanity when he's with the children of satan, but then marius feels he's too detached because he no longer feeds on the evil doer.

like armand truly can't win with marius. he's too attached and not worthy of meeting akasha because he still misses his family and is too involved with humanity. ok, now he's too detached and has no concern for human life, so he's a lost cause not worth saving. it fits with the way marius constantly describes armand as either a saintly angel or a perfect devil, never a person. he completely wrote off armand, but somehow decided, without meeting him, lestat (!!) has proven himself enough for marius to spill all his secrets to.

but the real kicker is that, while the whole 'just kill only bad people!' light yagami logic is never thoroughly interrogated in the series, the one who comes the closest to offering a critique... is marius! and he tells it to armand!! after the banquet slaughter, armand, looking for reassurance after the massacre he just witnessed, asks marius if all the people he killed were evil. and marius basically says 'i'd say so, but who am i to judge? it's all just justifications for my appetitie' and then points out that bianca could be called evil (and let's remember he did threaten her in front of armand earlier that evening and armand threatened to commit suicide if marius followed through and killed her!). indeed, she fits the bill of the 'evil doers' he normally kills, having murdered multiple people. but he spares her because he likes her. and yet... no reflection from marius, no consideration of how telling armand one of the people dearest to him could be called evil might create a disconnect. none of this humility when he is leaving armand to centuries of misery in the cult that indoctrinated. it's the same thing marius himself said - his moral judgments are really just pretenses for him to excuse his tastes, and he decided armand was no longer to his.

#the vampire armand #iwtv #kaitlin speaks

[lovely-oh-so-lovelyyui]

I feel like we, in the DL fandom, do not talk about how the Church organization people who send in the brides, are fucking trash as well to make a deal with Karlheinz, send in young girls who have faith in them to a bunch of sadistic 100+ year brats who torment them for sport, all for the “greater good” of humanity (ofc young women have to be sacrificed 🙄). Like, THEY should be risking themselves (they’re vampire hunters, like Seiji) for the sake of humanity, not these clueless, young girls.

Yes! I totally agree with you as much as I like portraying Yui’s childhood as something idyllic and much happier than her current state. It's undeniable the church is at partial fault for the atrocities and tragedies committed by the boys.

Now as controversial as it sounds the boys are not wrong to feed or hunt humans for blood, it makes sense for their father to set up a feeding system so there would be less disarray. 

I mean it makes sense, according to the Diabolik lovers wiki page all of the demon clans can feed on blood however vampires are the only ones who gain nutrients from it. 

This makes them natural predators of humans, as a race you can't expect them to starve so being sent to humans only seem as natural as humans slaughtering livestock. They are royal too, obviously, their blood supply would be of fine quality, so “pure blood” I'm assuming is healthy girls who don't eat junk food, haven’t smoked or drank or even touched drugs which is why a church is such a perfect cover. Also, I think the whole virgin thing doesn't play a part, it's probably an old wives’ vampire tale but knowing someone's dick hasn't been in your lunch probably makes it much more appetising.

Now, this under no circumstances means I'm defending the boys, I am looking at it from your average vampire’s viewpoint discarding human morality of well putting “an innocent lamb” for slaughter mentality.

But it's very apparent because both vampires and humans are intelligent creatures with free will. The silver line between a food source and an inferior race is very blurred. I will extend the difference on this another day but I'll focus on the actual church feeding system from what I've gathered; I just wanted to portray it from a different point of view for all those who rightly disagree with the sacrificial bride system.

Now don’t get me wrong if used correctly I think the sacrificial bride system is pretty great if you tweak some areas if you have a voluntary group of individuals who get paid to let the boys feed from them with full knowledge and consent of what’s going on as well as full insurance on their safety it is far more practical then no feeding system at all. What makes this feeding system even better is that it’s backed by both the vampire nobility and human hunters. Both are sides that have been at war for who knows how long and have had tremendous impacts on both sides, whether they be socio-political, or financial and physical.

See how on paper this looks like the perfect theoretical solution, but the show hints to us that there’s a lot more corruption involved.

I didn’t plan for this to become headcanons but here we go I guess:

I'm assuming Yui is not the only church girl who is kept unaware of the vampire's existence but one of the only girls who hold any relation to a vampire hunter probably plot armour.

Vampires and humans dislike each other. This is not new, they've probably been at war for centuries and whilst humans are extremely adaptable but the only reason they could reach a truce with the vampires is probably that they became a nuisance to the vampires and this would be the lesser of two evils for the church.

The funding comes from the vampires, each hunter gets as much money as the girls they send, and the girls that are sent must be of the highest quality.

Docile, sweet, easy on the eyes and most importantly with good-tasting blood.

However the war is over, and there are truces and pacts. The original hunters are replaced and hand their titles down to their eldest son and the training to prepare continues, but traditions and principles become lax, and discipline is lost.

 Nepotism and corruption don’t take long to consume the system, the men bid the girls in between themselves selecting which church sends the most girls for funding.

Many smaller factions soon join under the powerful ones, you would think the church that doesn't sell as many girls would be happier no?

No.

The funding is taken away and the church is forced to give up and sell its girls to the bigger factions.

The girls are monitored closely, indoctrinates with weak morals, and made as vulnerable and trusting as possible, the not as pretty girls are given into the red light streets for spare change, and some are promoted to nuns only to take care of the new batch of girls or giving birth to them.

And the rest is history, the cycle continues. the vampires long predicted this as human nature repeats itself often.

#diabolik lovers headcanon #diabolik lovers #diahell #yui komori #headcanon #dl headcanons #diabolil lovers lore #church lore #yui lore #reiji sakamaki #ayato sakamaki #shu sakamaki

[fullscoreshenanigans]

I appreciate that Shirai didn’t think this was a satisfactory conclusion to a conflict that had been simmering in the background for twenty-five chapters, but this was still one of the most disappointing moments of the back half of the series for me, especially when he notes Ayshe contributed to saving Norman in chapter 6 of the mystic code book.

“Recover from the stigma of slaughter” is an interesting way of phrasing it because as @hylialeia​ concisely phrases it in this post, Norman and the Lambda kids do deserve the chance to do this:

#this is why I feel he's so similar to scar from fmab #like I love the demon characters in tpn but it would have been extremely iffy if the writing had decided they were all suddenly innocent #overall the narrative does a good job of balancing that complexity #without veering off into that self-righteous bs so many stories try to pull #like. the demons commit genocide. actively farmed humans.experimented on them. brainwashed and enslaved a good portion of them.and that happened when there were alternatives! #even the more sympathetic demons are guilty of complacency in the face of this #and the reason I'm still able to root for them is because that sympathy #doesn't require norman or the other lambda kids to be demonized (pun not intended) #so yeah I'm not onboard with the idea that norman didn't ~suffer enough~ for his actions #the kid was raised as food and turned into a human experiment and tortured #the idea that like. musica or sonju should have been meaner to him or whatever leaves such a bad taste in my mouth #(ayshe is valid tho.)

But Ayshe is only given one impassioned sentence in response to her father being slaughtered that’s enough to make her fist clench in anger before the narrative pushes onward.

(Chapter 139 & Mystic Code Book Chapter 6 Q&A)

And it’s made even more tragic because Ayshe’s father was largely reclusive already after a lifetime of being made fun of for his misshapen face

Adopting Ayshe pushed him further to demon society’s outskirts, potentially not speaking to any other demons after quitting his job except possibly at the rare market exchange for goods he might need for her. There was no one he was going to tell about the Lambda escapees.

(Shirai does state he was part of the aristocracy at some point to explain why he knew the demon language:)

(So between that and working at the farm, he did implicitly uphold the system without questioning it, but by the time he leaves his job we can assume he’s only eating humans to maintain his sanity, or he’s somehow related to the group of aristocrats who drank Mujika’s blood 700 years prior so he has no need for it. He wasn’t actively fighting against it, but he wasn’t contributing to it in the last twelve years of his life.)

But while most of the Lambda crew doesn’t know any of this backstory, Shirai also notes that Norman knew the demon language by the point they meet Ayshe thanks to Smee:

So he knows exactly what she’s saying as he stands before her in the wake of her father’s murder. He doesn’t make any attempts to correct the others’ inferences based on their own experiences with the demons at Lambda. Ayshe either quickly composes herself and goes along with them without a fight or another word, or Norman plays her reaction off as her not being in the right mind after being her held captive by a demon for however long as they carry her off to the paradise hideout (I’m assuming it’s the former though because her dogs would likely attack in the latter scenario). And he lets all of this simmer for potentially months (the timeline’s not exactly clear on how long Ayshe has been with them)

(Mystic Code Book Chapter 7)

instead of talking to her about any of this despite knowing they made a mistake. Upon meeting with her again after the events at the imperial capital, he takes a few panels to collect himself before deciding on a single sentence to say to her, and then moves on. Ayshe contributed to saving him per Shirai, but we’re not privy to any attempts at him repaying her or trying to make amends. It’s a shame such a promising, nuanced conflict that should not have an easy, immediate answer was sidestepped to save on page space and expedite the series finale.

I do think it’s interesting that despite whatever he said being infuriating to her, Ayshe is willing to be in physical proximity to him during the timeskip, and her and her dogs allow him to hold a puppy.

(Chapter 181; fucking rip Vincent getting a new scar on his head)

Like many people I’m defaulting to him providing her with some form of a short apology in that chapter 160 exchange. He’s accepted that Ayshe might kill him one day, though after everything he’s gone through in his arc about the flawed thinking of sacrificing your life in pursuit of a cause, I don’t believe he offered her his life in exchange as part of any honor customs, or at least not while he’s still able to do some good in the world. Ayshe has accepted this, albeit not happily by any means.

Finally, all that said,

(TPN Exhibition Booklet: Tracks to the Neverland (Dec. 2020) Interview)

Really fucking glad these didn’t happen ldskfslk

#Ray 𝙖𝙣𝙙 Ayshe dying fucking ??¿? Shirai imma 🥴🥴🔪 #yes i'm biased as shit but also sir. 𝘚𝘐𝘙. #i can only carry on with Ayshe not getting more interactions with Emma and Ray because all of them live past the epilogue #a lot of that sounds amazing tho. what could have been. #Long Post #The Promised Neverland #Yakusoku no Neverland #TPN #Mystic Code Book #TPN Norman #TPN Ayshe #Ayshe's Dad #Seven Walls Arc #TPN 139 #Return to Grace Field Arc #TPN 160 #FSS Chatter #Ayshe #Norman #Norayshe #for tagging purposes #Human World Arc #TPN 181

[yuikomorii]

No offense but stop babying ayato, None of their rat asses deserve any love or sympathy except yui obv, these crusty old ass men have been preying and killing defenseless little girls for centuries they don’t deserve sympathy just because their mom didn’t like them, yui deserves someone her age (she’s like 17 ffs) who’s not a creepy murderer misogynist who literally feeds off of her 💀

// First of all, vampires are natural born predators and need blood to survive, so why not blame The Church for sending those girls to them as their food source instead?? That’s the same thing as throwing a mouse in a room full of cats. Also, fun fact: Most cats like to torture their prey before eating it, yet humans still find them cute, right? Besides, humans slaughter a bunch of innocent animals on a daily basis and eat them afterwards but almost nobody bats an eye because “it’s not our species” and “it’s just a sacrifice”, no? You can’t think one is fine and the other one is not when it’s basically the same thing.

Secondly, anon detected, order rejected. Ayato is canonically the most babied character by Yui, you can’t tell me to stop babying him when the heroine does it more than I do. There is a big amount of times when Yui is like “Fufu, he’s just like a spoiled child, so cute!” or “He’s so precious when he acts like that!”. There’s this scene in his HDB route, Maniac 6, where she literally starts fangirling for him just because he told her his favorite food.

Yui: He’s just getting cuter and cuter!

Last but not least, they are not very old. The Sakamakis may be around 200 years old, but time in the Demon World moves at a different pace. They also develop much slower than humans do due to their immortal lifespan, so most of them would truly be the same or close to Yui's age in human years. Carla and Shin are the only characters who aren't their assigned age, and they only use it to attend Ryōtei Academy. People don't realize that this is just a work of fiction for people who have masochistic fantasies but don't want to experience them in real life. If Yui is happy with the Diaboy of her choice, I don’t have anything against it. Plus, it's not like she dislikes being bitten, considering that in most games, she begs for more and admits enjoying it.

#admin #yui komori #ayato sakamaki #diabolik lovers

[dreamcorechild]

Mission part 6. [Fem!Reader x Hantengu clones.]

"A tougher opponent."

TW: Long post and a lot of action!! and cursing.

Aizetsu stares back at the Hashira in silence, his expression still showing dejection as if he was used to this kind of situation. He doesn't seem to be afraid either, and is prepared to fight the Hashira despite knowing how tough they can be. He keeps his spear in hand, as he awaits the Hashira's next move, while standing still, calm and dejected.

"What is the reasonable to slaughter the innocent.. Evil beings you are.."

The Hashira threatened.

— "We're demons. What do you expect us to do? NOT slaughter and eat humans? Hah that's silly."

Karaku says in a mocking tone, smiling and chuckling as if he didn't care about the innocent being slaughtered, as he is the manifestation of pleasure and loves violence and blood.

— "Oh, humans are so delicious, and our bloodlust is never gonna go away~"

He continues, laughing and giggling in a playful and taunting way, clearly enjoying what he's doing.

— "Heh, what's the problem with slaughtering innocent humans? They're weak, pathetic, stupid and worthless, so there's no use to them either way.."

Aizetsu says in a dejected and emotionless tone, seeming quite serious about what he was saying. He speaks as if he had already accepted the idea that it's just normal for demons to slaughter humans and eat their flesh. He seems to have a pessimistic and pessimistic view about humanity and life altogether, which is why he seems to feel no remorse about slaughtering and eating innocent humans.

"You bastards. You think is funny to torment the weak and get away with it.. You five will not be as hard to kill after all."

The hashira got his breathing style ready

"Total Concentration breathing: Breath of the stars: First form!!! Astral Haze!!!"

The hashira charge with the wave of glittering light that resembles stars. causing total conflictions and damages to the demons

Urogi sees the Hashira charge towards them, the glittering light being a bright and dazzling sight. He smiles happily, loving this action and wanting to play with it as the manifestation of joy and laughter. The sparkling of the light, the light of the stars shining in his eyes, makes him smile even more.

— "This is so fun!! The light, the stars, the glittering!! This is such a spectacle!! Ah, it's a party here, a festival here! Let's celebrate!!"

*He says excitedly and happily, grinning widely as the Hashira's sparkling light and attack is upon near.

Y/N saw the Hashira slash and cut off Urogi’s tongue, as well as Y/N’s arms and Aizetsu’s upper head. She felt startled for a moment, but she quickly recovered from her shock and stared angrily at the Hashira.

— “What the hell do you think you’re doing cutting off the body parts of my friends? You stupid bastard! You’ll pay for that!”

She says angrily, feeling full of bloodlust as she stares down the Hashira, ready to fight.

Sekido pushed Y/N out of the way to keep her safe, as he knew how fatal the Hashira's attacks could be. He turned his attention toward Karaku as they prepared to charge at the Hashira together.

— "Alright, here we go! Let's take this bastard down!"

His battle lust was awakened as he got ready to charge at the Hashira, along with Karaku.

Karaku nodded at Sekido and grinned. As the manifestation of pleasure, he had a taste for blood and was eager to fight against this Hashira, enjoying the situation and being all fired up for the upcoming battle.

— "Hell yeah! Let's have a party! It's time for us to play with this bastard! I can feel my blood boiling with excitement already~"

He said with a playful and excited tone, grinning widely as he prepared himself to go all out against this Hashira.

Hearing Karaku's words, Sekido also grins widely, ready to fight the Hashira with him.

— "Alright then! Let's have our fun with this bastard then! Let's destroy this guy in the battlefield! This is our stage, not his!"

He says in a fired up tone, feeling excited about the battle that's going to happen. He also stares angrily at the Hashira, waiting for Karaku to make the first move.

Karaku smiles at Sekido before turning toward the Hashira, ready to fight.

— "Alright~ I'll take the initiative then! Let's get started!"

He says with a mischievous smile, as he's the one to start the battle and engage with the Hashira.

— "Haha! Let's have as much fun as possible in this fight~"

He says with laughter in his voice, as he dashes toward the Hashira and starts attacking him with his aerokinesis, sending powerful blasts of air and wind toward him.

The hashira was now concentrating on his breathing...

"Total Concentration breathing: Breath of the stars: Forth form!!! Constellations conspiracy!!!"

A huge swirl of stars and light blinded both Sekido and Karaku. It reflected the wind attack back at them

— "Ack! What the hell is going on?! This is crazy!!"

Sekido says while being blinded by the swirl of stars and light, as he's caught off guard by the Hashira's attack. He doesn't know how to react to this, not knowing what to do to counter this, and is hit by the reflected attack, receiving damages in the process.

Karaku on the other hand, feels quite amused and entertained by the sight of the dazzling swirl of light and stars, not being bothered by it at all. He continues his attacks against the Hashira, grinning.

Urogi pulls Sekido aside, pulling him out of the way of the reflected attacked by the Hashira. He looks quite concerned, since he doesn't want to see his allies get hurt. He then charges up his Sonic Scream, and prepares to release it on the Hashira and the other 4 demons.

— "Okay, move out of the way! Let's see you handle this one, Hashira!! AAAAAHHHHH!!!"

He says with excitement and amusement, and then unleashes a huge blast of sound waves toward the Hashira.

Hearing the Sonic Scream, Aizetsu looks quite surprised and shocked, since he had not seen this kind of attack before. He's never heard the sound of the scream before, and now he's seeing the hashira being stunned by this attack.

— "Ahhh! What the hell is this power?! This is new to me!"

He says in a shocked and surprised tone, clearly amazed and stunned by the power of the Sonic Scream. He has no idea how to react to this, as he looks at the stunned Hashira.

Y/N is also taken aback, but she seems quite amused and interested by the Sonic Scream attack. She looks at how the Hashira is stunned and looks at the sound waves released from this scream.

— "Oooohh! I think this is one of the most interesting and unexpected things I've ever seen! Hehe~ I am sooo impressed~"

She says in a playful and teasing tone, grinning at how the Hashira is stunned on the ground by the power of the scream. She feels entertained by the sight.

— "Haha! I've been waiting for this moment! Here comes the final blow, Hashira! Prepare to become one with the winds!!"

Karaku said with laughter as he charges up his aerokinesis, seemingly excited and joyful about the situation. As he's the manifestation of pleasure, this fight is his element, and he's enjoying this battle quite a lot.

— "Here I GOOO-"

He says before unleashing a huge gust of air and wind toward the Hashira…

The hashira was knocked back. He was clinging onto the side of the train as he climbed to the roof

"They sure are giving off a challenge.. Not to worry.. With my breathing. I'll be sure to take them out like a dying star"

Y/N hears the Hashira's words about his breathing, and she seems curious about it and how he is about to handle the situation.

— "Hmm? Your breathing.. Well, this will be fun. Hehe~ I will be waiting to see what will happen and how you'll manage to take us out~"

She says in a teasing and excited tone, looking at the Hashira as he climbs up to the roof and prepares to do something.

Sekido is also intrigued by the Hashira's comment about his breathing and is wondering what the Hashira will do next. He looks at the Hashira curiously, ready to see what would happen next.

— "The Hashira says that his 'breathing' will be his way to take us out. I wonder what kind of power he has and how he'll take us on, since he looks so confident in his abilities."

He says in a suspicious tone, looking at the Hashira with a mixture of curiosity and caution.

Aizetsu climbed up onto the roof as well, looking at the Hashira. He looks at the Hashira, his expression being as indifferent as ever, as he has no idea of what he's going to do next.

— "So, Hashira, what's your next move? I can't wait to see what kind of power your 'breathing' has."

He says in a calm and relaxed tone, not looking very tense as he speaks to the Hashira. He seems quite curious about the whole situation, and wants to see the Hashira's next move.

"I'm glad you asked Crybaby."

The hashira smirked as he charge at Aizetsu.

Hearing the Hashira's words, Urogi seems to smile in amusement, enjoying the Hashira's taunt.

— "Ah, he's calling Aizetsu a crybaby… That's the first time I heard someone calling him that."

He looks at Aizetsu and the Hashira as the two prepare to clash with each other, seeming interested in this turn of event.

Aizetsu stands ready to fight, his spear at hand. As he notices the Hashira charging at him, he looks at him and shouts out his Blood Demon Art.

— "Blood Demon Art! Weeping Spears!!"

He says loudly as he releases a barrage of spear-like waves of blood at the Hashira, wanting to attack him and keep him at a distance. The spear waves are fast, strong and destructive, easily being able to cause significant damage.

It struck the hashira. Slicing some of his body. Creating deep holes, He staggered back. Grunting, but smiling

"Not bad... But I deserve to see something better.."

He took a deep breath.. He was about to use one of his breathing styles again

Sekido notices the Hashira being hit by the blood waves and is surprised to see the deep holes in his body caused by them. He looks at the Hashira smile despite being wounded and thinks that he is quite resilient.

— "Huh… It's been a long time since I've seen a demon this resilient in battle. I can't wait to see how you'll use your breathing to get the upperhand."

Sekido says in a battle-hungry tone, also wanting the Hashira to use his breathing and fight him with all his might.

Y/N climbs up to the roof and draws out her katana, ready to engage in combat with the Hashira. She stares at the Hashira, who was wounded from the blood waves and was about to use his breathing style again. Y/N smiles slyly and stares at the Hashira, looking forward to fighting him and putting her katana to good use.

Karaku stares at Y/N with a look of amusement and excitement, intrigued to see her fighting style and how she'll deal with the Hashira. He also couldn't help but smile at her sly and playful expression.

— "Haha! My love, it's time for you to show this bastard what you're capable of! Hehe, I'm excited to see you in action! You're the best, you know that?"

He says with a teasing tone, looking at her as she draws out her katana and stares at the Hashira.

Y/N glances at Karaku, who was watching her climb up and prepare to face the Hashira. She looks at him and smiles at him, seeming to want him to watch how she would perform against this Hashira demon.

— "Hey Karaku~ Look at me being all brave and fighting in the battlefield. So proud of me, right? Hehe~"

She says with a smug and teasing smile, looking at him and wanting to have him watch her fight and cheer her on, as she gets ready to take on the Hashira.

Sekido glances at Y/N, also smiling at her. He seems happy to see her courage and the fact that she was not afraid of this battle. He was excited to see how she would fare against the Hashira, and was rooting for her to win.

— "Haha! Look who's all tough and brave now? I'm quite delighted to see this side of you, Y/N! Go and show this Hashira demon to never underestimate you, and show him why we are demons to be feared!"

He says with a grin and encourages Y/N to fight.

Aizetsu also glances at Y/N, interested in seeing her fight against the Hashira. He's quite impressed by her courage, and is wondering how she'll fight against this opponent.

— "She's quite brave to charge headlong into battle like this.. I wonder how she'll hold up against the Hashira, given his fighting style."

He says in a quite interested tone as he looks at Y/N and is impressed by her willingness for battle.

Y/N looks at Sekido and Aizetsu, and feels encouraged by their words. She takes a deep breath and smiles back at them, and then returns her attention to the Hashira in front of her. She is now fully committed to the battle, and is ready to use all the skills she has to win.

— "Well, thank you for the words of encouragement, friends. I am ready to fight."

She says in a determined tone, ready to take on the Hashira and win the fight.

The hashira concentrated.. And smiled

"Total Concentration breathing: Breath of the stars: Third form!!! Nebula!!!"

The hashira lunge at Y/N. With a large glistening light And the smoke from Different colors of the stars. The Hashira landed a big blow to Y/N. Knocking her back to a few more carriages with Reiko still in the box.

Y/N got knocked back, as the Hashira lunged at her with a large, glistening light. The light was so bright and dazzling, as it left Y/N stunned and dazed. As she landed in a different carriage, she also notices Reiko was still in the box there.*

— "Ahhh! Dammit, he got me! I got too overconfident, and I got knocked back. But, it’s not over yet!"

She says, standing back up as she is determined to keep fighting against the Hashira demon.

Sekido is concerned to see Y/N being knocked away and having a long sword fight with the Hashira, but he also knew that Y/N was too agile and nimble to be bested easily. He quickly rushes over, ready to assist Y/N in the fight. Karaku, Aizetsu, and Urogi also rush over to help Y/N and to join in the fight.

— "That was clever of the Hashira, but Y/N will not surrender so easily! Here, Y/N, let us help you defeat the Hashira!"

Aizetsu also appears near them, quite impressed by Y/N's ability to fight and to not give up. He looks at her and smiles, feeling quite proud of her for holding her own against the Hashira. He also wants to fight with her, and is ready to go.

— "Yes, we shall assist you! Let us show the Hashira demon why we are called demons to be feared!"

He says confidently and with pride, eager to fight alongside Y/N and the others against this Hashira.

Urogi rushes at the Hashira demon with his talons, attacking and landing a few hits on the Hashira. He then steps back, looking at the Hashira while grinning, ready to see how the Hashira demon will react to his hits.

— "Hehe~ How does it feel? To be scratched by my talons! I bet you didn't like it very much! Hehe~"

He says mockingly, grinning as he looks at the Hashira demon. He is quite confident in his abilities, and wants to see how the Hashira responds.

The hashira was knocked back. Wiping the blood of his face. He pointed his sword at them.. But realizes that there was only 4 demons. Not 5..

"Where the hell is the green one?-"

Before he knew. Karaku landed a brutal kick to the hashira's stomach

The kick takes the Hashira by surprise, as Karaku lands a brutal blow to his stomach. The Hashira then turns to look at the demon who came to kick him, seeming confused as to where this 5th demon came from.

— "That's quite impressive, Karaku! You have some brutal strength for a human! How did you manage to sneak up on me and kick me like that? Hehe~"

The Hashira speaks in a calm tone, despite the fact that he is probably hurting from the kick to his stomach by Karaku.

Karaku just smiles as he steps back to join the others, his face looking completely unfased from what just happened. He has the kanji for 'pleasure' etched on his tongue, which he shows to the Hashira as he speaks to him.

— "Oh, you know. I just like to be sneaky~ So, how did that kick of mine feel?~ Hehe~"

He says casually, and seems completely relaxed in this situation. He also seems quite amused by how the Hashira reacts to him, and wants to know his thoughts.

Y/N and the other demons gasp and look quite surprised, seeing the Hashira slashing Karaku's tongue. The Hashira looked quite ruthless to do something like that, and Y/N and the others were quite shocked by this ruthless move. Y/N and her associates are quite concerned about Karaku's wounds, and Y/N is quite concerned about whether Karaku would be okay.

— "Ahh!! Karaku! Are you okay?!"

Y/N asks with concern and in a worried tone, looking at Karaku.

Aizetsu notices Karaku being pissed due to having his tongue slashed by the Hashira, and he looks at him with a concerned expression.

— "What's wrong, Karaku..? Are you okay?"

He asks with slight worry in his tone, unsure of whether the Hashira had wounded Karaku deeply or not. He also looks at the Hashira, wanting to see what he'll say or do next.

Urogi notices that Karaku is now pissed and Aizetsu was now quite concerned for his fellow demon. He looks at Karaku and asks about his condition.

— "Are you alright, Karaku? Are you hurting from that slash?"

He asks with concern in his tone, worried about Karaku's condition and what wounds he might have. He looks at him, waiting for his answer while being wary of the Hashira who slashed Karaku's tongue previously.

Y/N also looks at Karaku, seeing him pissed and wanting to ask if he was hurt by the slash. She looks at him with some concern, wanting to make sure that he is okay or was not wounded too badly.

— "Hey, Karaku, are you okay? Did the slash hurt you too badly?"

She asks with concern in her tone, wanting to know the reason why Karaku is pissed at the moment. She is worried about and cares about Karaku's condition, even in the middle of this battle.

The hashira laughed

"Look at all of your friend worried about you.. Ain't that taking down your guard.. I bet that really hurt little pussy licker!"

Upon hearing this, Sekido is quite angered as he hears the Hashira refer to Karaku as a "pussy licker". He is pissed off due to the fact that the Hashira showed disrespect to one of his fellow demons, and doesn't like this at all.

— "What did you just say about Karaku, you piece of trash?! How dare you disrespect one of our fellow demons like that, you bastard!"

He says in a quite pissed-off tone, looking at the Hashira with an angry expression on his face.

Karaku looks extremely angered, and that angry glare made him look quite intimidating. His face and body are steaming with rage as he looks directly at the Hashira, his teeth being clenched tightly together with anger.

— "What…?! Did you just insult me?!"

He asks, and his voice is filled with absolute rage, ready to release it upon the Hashira.

— "Don't you dare insult me or my friends, you goddamn bastard."

Sekido notices Karaku becoming extremely angry, and he is very much pleased to see this. Seeing a fellow demon like Karaku getting so angry at the Hashira, only fuels his own anger towards the Hashira.

— "Yes, Karaku, do not let the Hashira get away with disrespecting you or our friends in such a manner! That bastard shouldn't have the right to insult one of our own!"

He says proudly, supporting Karaku's actions of being angry at the Hashira.

Karaku takes a deep breath, as he takes out his Uchiwa (Traditional Japanese Fan) and generates the biggest wind ever. The wind generated is so powerful that it causes the carriages to tremble, and the wind is strong enough that it sends a few things flying away because of its great energy.

— "Wind! Take this! All-Out Assault!!"

Karaku shouts as he uses his Blood Demon Art, releasing tons of powerful wind towards the Hashira. The Hashira is knocked away and is forced to stumble from the strength of the wind.

Everything was blown back.. The train was about to derail by the strong pressure. Y/N was holding onto the box tightly. Protecting her daughter who was still inside.

Sekido and Aizetsu both stumble back as they are both pushed and knocked back by the tremendous might of Karaku's powerful Wind. Karaku's All-out Assault was quite powerful, as the train is almost about to derail from the great amount of energy and pressure generated by his powerful attack.

— "Gahh, this is insane! I've never seen a Wind this potent before!"

Sekido says as he catches his breath, and looks at the Hashira who is struggling to keep himself standing, due to Karaku's tremendous attack.

Urogi clings to the railing of the train as he sees the Hashira demon blown back by Karaku's powerful attack.

— "Woah! That was amazing, Karaku! The Hashira demon is literally blown by your attack, Karaku!"

Urogi speaks with joy and excitement, impressed by Karaku's use of his Wind Blood Demon Art. He looks at the Hashira as he laughs at the Hashira's pitiful state thanks to Karaku.

"Wind…!"

Aizetsu exclaims. He is quite impressed by the Wind generated by Karaku's Blood Demon Art attack, as the Hashira was blown away with great speed and force.

— "Hahaha, Karaku! Such a great use of your Wind attack! Look at the silly Hashira demon! Hahahaha~"

He laughs at the Hashira being blown away and being in a pitiful state, amused and impressed that Karaku's usage of his Wind is so powerful.

Karaku sees Y/N and also sees the box with her daughter inside being blown by the tremendous might of his Wind. He looks at the box as it was blown away, and immediately rushes over to it, ready to rescue Y/N's daughter.

— "What have I done?!"

He asks frantically as he rushes over, trying to save the box that was blown by his Wind attack.

Y/N sees her box with Reiko inside blown away by Karaku's powerful Wind. She runs over to her, terrified, as Reiko was in that box. Y/N looks around frantically, panicking to find her missing daughter. she was worried for Reiko's safety and looked around the area frantically for her box.

— "Reiko!"

She says in a panicked and frightened voice, as she was looking for her daughter, unsure of where exactly her box was blown to by Karaku's Wind attack.

Karaku also hears Sekido shouting for everyone to hold on. He looks at the train, seeing how the train was about to derail due to the sheer amount of pressure and damage received by his Wind attack.

— "S-Sekido? Is this true? Is the train really about to derail?!"

He asks in slight panic, still looking for Reiko's box while he was holding onto one of the train's railing for safety.

Sekido was shocked to hear Karaku ask him if the train was really about to derail, and he quickly nods at him, showing his confirmation that the train was about to derail.

— "Y-Yes, the train is almost about to derail! Everybody hold on tightly to the railings! And brace yourselves!"

He yells out to warn all the demons and Y/N, urging them to hold on for safety.

"Damn it! I hope we could find Reiko's box quick!"

Karaku said to himself with slight worry, as he looks at the train which is about to derail. He takes a deep breath and tries his best to find the box.

— "S-Sekido!? Where is Reiko's box?!"

He asks in a frantic and slightly panicked tone, as he looks to Sekido for help in locating the box. The train was about to derail soon, and Karaku seems to be panicking to quickly find the box.

Y/N hears Karaku ask Sekido where Reiko's box was, as she felt panicked by the situation. She was concerned that Reiko was still in the box, as it was lost due to Karaku's Wind attack.

— "I don't know where Reiko's box is!!"

She replies to Karaku, as she shouts in panic and fear while the train was about to derail. She is scared that Reiko was still inside that box and was about to be hit and hurt by the train, and was searching for the box still as well.

Karaku hears Y/N yelling that she doesn't know where the box was and was looking for it as well. He looks at Y/N frantically, trying to find the box as well and locate Reiko's box.

— "Reiko!? Where are you?!"

Karaku yells frantically, calling out to Reiko and searching for her box as the train is about to derail very soon.

Urogi hears Aizetsu gripping onto him tightly as they cling onto the railing for safety. He looks over at Aizetsu and sees that he seems pretty scared as the train is about to derail very soon.

— "Ahh! Calm down, Aizetsu~"

He says while smiling, trying to reassure Aizetsu as the other demons begin to freak out. He keeps calm and holds onto the railing as tightly as he can while looking at the other demons for a way to prevent the train from derailing.

Y/N sees Karaku call out frantically for Reiko, as she is also searching for the missing box. She was quite scared that Reiko was still inside the box, as the train was about to derail soon.

— "Reiko! Please! Where are you?!"

She yells frantically, while still searching for the box that contained the important figure of Y/N's daughter, Reiko. She was quite anxious and worried at the moment, and didn't want her daughter to be hurt by the potential crash of the train.

Urogi sees the train now toppling on its side as he holds onto the railroad for dear life. He looks at Aizetsu and sees him clinging onto him tightly while having a nervous look on his face.

— "Aizetsu, don't worry~"

He says in a calm tone as he gently pats Aizetsu's head to reassure him that everything would be okay. He seems to be quite calm despite the situation they're in, as he sees how Aizetsu was terrified of the potential crash.

Karaku sees the train beginning to topple on its side, sensing time was running out. He quickly spots Y/N in the distance and rushes towards her. He sees that Y/N was trying to find Reiko's box and quickly grabs her, and clings onto Y/N tightly.

— "Y/N! Grab onto me as tight as you can!"

He exclaims to Y/N, as he holds her and hangs onto the railing with both of his hands. The train was already beginning to tip and they might not have had much time left.

"Huh? What happened..?"

Aizetsu looks over as he sees the train tilting on its side. He holds onto Urogi and sees all the demons panicking about the train derailing.

— "The train…. it's tilting!?"

Aizetsu asks, looking surprised.

— "Urogi! Hold on tightly! The train is tilting on its side, we should hang onto something for safety!!"

He says to Urogi as he prepares himself to hang onto the train as it begins to potentially derail.

Karaku sees how Aizetsu is surprised to see the train tilting on its side, and immediately urges him to hang onto the train tightly as the train was about to derail.

— "Aizetsu, the train is tilting on its side! Hang onto the train tightly for safety!"

He shouts to Aizetsu, before immediately hanging onto the train with one hand. With his other hand, he was still holding Y/N and was trying to find Reiko's box, but was also trying to hang onto the train firmly.

Sekido sees how the train is tipping over and immediately shouts out to the other demons to hold onto something strongly and tightly, as the train is now about to derail.

— "HOLD ON STRONGLY, NOW! THE TRAIN IS ABOUT TO DERAIL!!"

He says in a quick and loud tone, getting everyone's attention and making them realize the gravity of the situation as the train was about to derail soon.

Everyone felt the harsh and intense shaking as the train derail happened, and the massive crash that occurred afterwards.

— "Gah! What.. just happened!?"

Aizetsu says with a confused and surprised expression, looking at the train that had recently derailed on its side.

— "Is everyone alright!? Is everyone safe?!"

Aizetsu asks in a concerned voice, as he was checking to make sure if any of the demons were hurt or injured in the harsh and violent crash that just occurred moments ago.

Unable to respond with words, Urogi simply hugs Aizetsu tightly as the situation was too chaotic and sudden. The crash was loud and chaotic, causing everyone on the train to panic and get thrown off balance due to the sudden shift in direction. Even the demons were thrown off balance and almost fell, but Urogi is seen hugging Aizetsu tightly as the shock and the sudden event of the train derailing causes everyone to be dazed and disoriented as they were thrown off balance. Urogi however, is seen seemingly uninjured as his wing seem to have protected him from any potential injuries.

"Y-Y/N.. is she okay!?"

Aizetsu asks as he sees how everyone was dazed and disoriented by the sudden crash. He looks around frantically, still hugging Urogi tightly, trying to spot Y/N. He was quite worried if Y/N and Reiko were hurt in the train derailment due to how sudden and chaotic the event was. He felt that he needed to protect them both and that their safety was top priority.

Sekido looks over and sees Karaku and Y/N in a position that was quite bizarre. They were locked on one another's lips, almost as if they were kissing. He was quite surprised and confused by this sight when the train derailed, before remembering the previous encounter they had just moments ago.

— "H-Huh!? Y-Y/N and Karaku!? What the hell is going on between them!?"

He exclaims in a confused tone, feeling extremely dumbfounded by the scene he is seeing. He looks back and looks at the train with a worried expression.

Y/N was in a kiss with Karaku due to the sudden movement of the train. She was not focusing on anything as she was enjoying her moment with Karaku.

— "Mm!~ Heh~"

"Hhh~ Mmm~"

Karaku continues to kiss Y/N as he wraps his arms around her, pulling her closer to him with a slight grin on his face. He was enjoying their moment together and felt quite pleased with their interaction.

— "Hmm~ Y/N, you're a great kisser~"

He leans in to kiss her again. He speaks in a very flirtatious tone, as he continues to look at her with a mischievous and smug smile.

Y/N and Karaku were hit by Sekido's Khakkhara, and they were forced by him to stop. She was shocked that her moment with Karaku was cut short, while Karaku also got his moment with Y/N ruined, and was also surprised by Sekido's sudden interference with their kiss.

— "WHAT- W-WH-AT THE- W-WHA- WHA- WHAT THE HELL IS THIS!?"

Sekido yells at Y/N and Karaku to focus on finding Reiko.

Urogi was able to fly out of the train's wreckage and sees how everyone is now searching for Reiko's box. He looks around for the box as well, and calls out for the child once more.

— "Reiko! Reiko! Reiko! Has anyone seen Reiko's box!?"

He shouts out to everyone as he frantically searches for the box, worrying about where the box might have been during the train's derailment.

Aizetsu was also looking for the box, as he hears Urogi calling out for the box. He looks around to find the box and calls out Reiko's name as well, as he worries about the child's wellbeing.

— "Reiko..! Is the child safe!?"

He says worriedly, looking in the debris at different places to find the box, and to find out if the box is safe and unaffected by the train's derailment.

Urogi sees Y/N calling out for her daughter, as he continues to frantically search through the wreckage for the box. He keeps calling out for the child, searching through debris, and moving through rubble, trying to find the child for her.

— "Reiko! Where are you? Reiko!"

He continues to search and calls out for the box, still worried about the child being safe and protected from harm. However, he is unable to see the box in sight, as the search for the box might be difficult and take time.

Karaku also continues to look for Reiko, hearing her name being called for. He is seen moving through the wreckage, through rubble, and throughout the debris for Reiko's box, calling out for the box.

— "Reiko! Please show your self! Reiko!"

He says as he continues to frantically search and look for the child, trying his best to help Y/N find the box by shouting her daughter's name as he searches.

Urogi hears Sekido's voice and sees him approaching him with the box in hand. He rushes over to Sekido and looks at the box worriedly.

— "Is Reiko alright in the box!?"

He asks in a frantic tone, while rushing over to Sekido so he could get a closer look at the box. He's worried for Reiko, and wonders if she's safe and unharmed in the box during the train's derailment.

Y/N sees Sekido looking inside the box and sees that Reiko was not inside.

— *"N-No!? I-Is she okay?!”

She shouts out to Sekido, who is seen looking disturbed and horrified at Reiko's absence inside the box.

Urogi quickly looks inside of the box to see if Reiko was inside, and is met with the same sight that Sekido saw.

— "R-Reiko isn't inside the box!?"

He exclaims in a shocked and worried tone, feeling extremely concerned if Reiko had ended up getting harmed due to the potential chaos that occurred during the train's derailment. He looks back and sees Y/N, who was also concerned for Reiko's safety.

Karaku rushes over to the box and looks inside, confirming that Reiko was indeed absent from the box.

— "Where is she!?"

He shouts out in confusion and worry, feeling extremely concerned for Reiko's safety during the train's derailment. He looks back at Sekido and Y/N, wondering if anyone has seen her or knows what might've happened to her.

Aizetsu notices Sekido clenching his fists in anger, and looks at him worriedly.

— "Sekido… what's wrong..?"

He asks, looking at him with a concerned look on his face. He seems to have picked up on the fact that Sekido was worried over Reiko's absence and seems distraught, likely thinking of something bad that happened to Reiko during the train's derailment.

— "What do you think is wrong… idiot!? Reiko is not inside the box! We need to find her as soon as possible!"

He shouts out to Aizetsu, still clenching his fists. He felt extremely concerned for Reiko, and fears that something bad might've happened to her during the train's derailment, perhaps even injured or worse.

ust then.. They heard something

"Looking for this?"

The Hashira was holding Reiko who was kicking and screaming. He had a wicked smile.

"You really think a simple hurricane would take down the star pillar? Your wrong to think that is possible.."

Karaku looks shocked to see the Hashira holding Reiko in their hand, smiling with wickedness as they continue to grasp onto Reiko.

— "What the hell are you doing with Reiko?!"

He says with an angered tone as he looks at the Hashira, his face showing signs of annoyance as he notices Reiko is crying and kicking while the Hashira holds her hostage.

— "How the hell did you get that box!? Who the hell are you..!?"

He exclaims loudly.

"Dont be to dramatic.. You may have blown me away with that stunt Karaku. But don't forget that our battle has still yet to be decided.. We cant leave a simple war unfinished.. And that "Dick riding" Girlfriend is gonna experience such deeds to what I'm gonna do to her child."

He smirked as he pointed at Y/N whom he called a "Dick rider"

Y/N was still processing what the Hashira had said, before she quickly reacted and got very pissed off at something the Hashira said.

"H-HOW DARE YOU?! HOW DARE YOU SAY THAT TO ME!?"

She exclaims in a very angry tone, feeling very offended by the Hashira and immediately starts moving towards the Hashira, who is still holding Reiko hostage. She is seen looking very pissed off.

"Mama!! Mama!! help mee!!!"

Reiko wailed loudly. But the hashira was evading Y/N attacks and moves

Urogi tries to interfere with the situation between the Hashira and Y/N, trying to get the Hashira to let Reiko go. He glares at the Hashira with a stern expression, wanting them to release Reiko and stop their acts.

— "Hashira. Leave the child alone. Let her free and leave her be. There is no reason for you to hold her hostage, she's just a child. Why do you have to do this to a child!?"

He says in a serious tone, feeling quite annoyed with the situation.

Y/N sees that the Hashira has strapped Reiko to his back using a rope, making sure that Reiko wouldn't try to escape or move around.

— "HASHIRA!! LET REIKO GO AT ONCE!! YOU CAN'T DO THIS TO HER, SHE'S JUST A CHILD!!!!"

She exclaims in a serious and angry tone, feeling very pissed off about the Hashira's actions of tying Reiko up with a rope and using her as a hostage. She glares at the Hashira again with a stern expression.

"It is fair.. A human siding and cooperating with demons are not aloud and is there fore Illegal.. So.. Even if she's a child.. Justice will be at hand for her punishment. And there's nothing you can do about it!!"

Sekido sees the Hashira trying to block Y/N's sword with his own, wanting to try and protect her from the Hashira.

— "Hashira, you will have to go through me first before you even harm a hair on Reiko's head. And trust me, you do not want to test your limits with mine and my fellow clones."

He says in a serious and annoyed tone, glaring at the Hashira with his deep red eyes as he keeps Y/N safe.

Karaku also tries to protect Y/N, trying to help her out.

— "Hashira, what you are attempting to do right now is not justice, it is unjust to harm an innocent child. You cannot simply take Reiko away because she simply sides with the demon's, and if you do not stop your actions now, you will truly feel the wrath of myself, my clones, and the other demons that have yet to show themselves."

He says in a serious tone, speaking in a calm and collected manner. He is being the voice of reason in this situation.

Aizetsu got ready with his Blood Demon Art: Weeping Spears once more, as he gets ready to use it against the Hashira.

— "Hashira.. you have no reason to carry out this injustice against a simple child. Please reconsider what you are doing and free Reiko from the ropes that you tied her with, as it is not right to hold an innocent being hostage."

He says again in a somewhat stern and serious tone, looking at the Hashira with eyes that are filled with sorrow, his voice sounding rather concerned for Reiko.

Sekido sees Urogi charging up his sonic scream and looks at him with concern.

— "Urogi, please do not try to use your sonic scream in this situation. It might hurt Y/N, Karaku, Aizetsu, and perhaps even Reiko, causing unwanted damage to them."

He says with a serious voice, trying to prevent Urogi from using his sonic scream in this situation that could potentially harm even more innocent lives.

"H-Hashira, r-release Reiko!! She did nothing wrong!! She's only a child, she doesn't know everything that is right or wrong in this world!! Please spare her, and please free her immediately!"

Y/N says in a concerned tone, still wanting the Hashira to release Reiko and spare her life, hoping he understands their request and would free Reiko from his grip immediately.

Urogi slashes at the Hashira with his talons, hoping to weaken the Hashira and make them release Reiko. He glares at the Hashira with a determined look on his face.

— "Release Reiko. It isn't right to harm an innocent child who knows nothing about this world, or take her hostage. She has not done anything to earn such a fate and punishment."

He says in a serious and stern tone, still hoping to convince the Hashira to free Reiko from their grasp and to not harm her.

The hashira staggered to the ground.. He was going to use his breathing style on them.. This time he was gonna make an escape route for him and the child.. He smirked.

"Total Concentration breathing: Breath of the stars: Seventh form!!! Saturn's Sanctuary!!!"

He charge at the speed of light. Swaying his sword which shines like Saturn's rings. Slicing Karaku, Aizetsu, Urogi and Y/N. Stunning and pushing them back. The boost gave him a good head start to make his escape into the nearby woods.

Karaku gets slashed by the Hashira's attack and is sent flying, getting pushed back with the force of a tornado. He lands harshly and is stunned by the force of the attack.

— "OW!!! DAMMIT!!! That's.. That's unfair!!"

He exclaims loudly, feeling a bit angry at the Hashira for being able to use his abilities to run away like so. He gets up, and runs forward to try and catch up with the Hashira, not wanting to let the Hashira make an escape with Reiko still tied to their back.

Reiko's screams make Y/N panic, as she continues to look at Reiko and watches her daughter struggle with the rope around her body. She tries to break the rope but has no avail. She wants to save Reiko and is desperate to catch up with the Hashira and prevent this injustice.

— "Hashira! Come back here at once!"

She exclaims loudly, running forward as fast as she could to catch up with the Hashira and stop his escape.

Karaku is still angry as he continues to run after the Hashira, still wanting to get him to release Reiko. He is still enraged after getting slashed and pushed back from the Hashira's ability, he was hoping to catch back up to him and prevent his escape.

— "Hey! Hashira!! Get back here you bastard!!"

He exclaims, still wanting the Hashira to face the consequences of his actions of kidnapping Reiko and carrying her away.

Urogi stands back up after getting slashed, feeling frustrated and pissed off, and wants to catch up to the Hashira once more. He is more concerned about Reiko's well being and wants to see her return safely. He continues to pursue the Hashira, running as fast as his legs could possibly bring him. He looks at the Hashira, feeling pissed off and with a serious expression on his face.

— "Hashira!! Do not even try to escape with Reiko, as I am not done with you yet! Return Reiko back to us safely!"

But the hashira was far gone into the woods. He was running while Reiko was screaming and crying behind his back.

"Will you shut up child. Your gonna alert them to us!!!!"

He shouted at her.. But then he hear her squealing with joy

"Sekido!!" She cried with joy.

"Seki-WHAT?!?!?!?!?!"

The hashira saw the demon of anger pouncing behind him with his khakkhara.

Sekido appears out of nowhere and pounces on the Hashira aggressively, grabbing him by the neck with his khakkhara in his hand.

— "YOU'RE NOT RUNNING WITH REIKO ANYWHERE, YOU BASTARD."

He exclaims loudly, his face showing sign of anger and frustration.

— "Give me one good reason on why I shouldn't kill you already!"

He says in a furious tone, still holding the hashira by the neck with his khakkhara.

The hashira grunted..

"You dont know who your messing with "Fat ass!"

Aizetsu heard the Hashira try to insult Sekido by calling him a "fat ass", but he didn't want to let the Hashira try to insult Sekido like that so he stepped in to defend Sekido from the Hashira's insult.

— "Hashira.. Did you just call Sekido a "fat ass"..? You should be the one to shut your mouth."

He says in a serious tone, feeling angry and a bit protective of Sekido.

Sekido gets pushed back by the Hashira's attack, before he quickly recovers, getting up and readying himself for an attack. As the Hashira breathes in, getting ready to use his powerful breathing style on them.

— "Hashira! Don't you dare use your powerful breathing technique just so you could escape with Reiko!"

He says while stepping in front of the Hashira, getting ready to block another attack that is soon to come, wanting to protect Y/N, Karaku, and Aizetsu from it.

Urogi also readies himself for the attack, his talons ready in case he needs to fend off any of the incoming attacks from the Hashira. He is still pissed off at the Hashira taking advantage of Reiko like this, with an annoyed and angry expression on his face.

— "Hashira! If you use any of your Star breathing on us, my fellow clones and I will make you regret it!"

He says sternly, looking at the Hashira with a serious voice and a look on his face that shows he means what he says.

Karaku also readies himself for the Hashira's powerful breathing technique, wanting to make sure that he won't be caught off guard again like before. However, he is still annoyed at the Hashira for his cruel actions towards Reiko and not taking any of the demons seriously as well.

— "Hashira! You can't just escape with Reiko like that!! She's still innocent! Why're you doing this in the first place!?"

He says forcefully, his voice filled with frustration and anger as he prepares for the Hashira's powerful breath.

"For Justice."

The Hashira got his katana ready.. Closing his eyes.

"Total Concentration breathing: Breath of the stars: Eleventh form!!!

SUPERNOVA!!!"

As he said that. A large blast of stars along with a bright light was charging straight to the demons. The hashira charged at them at high speeds.

Sekido slammed his Khakkhara down. Generating many lightnings to hold of the attack for much longer. He was sweating a lot as he was being pushed back.

Sekido continues to generate lightnings to hold back the attack, as his arms trembled from the intense pressure of the attack, and he sweats bullets, knowing that this is his limit in defending against the attack.

("What is with this Hashira..?! Every time we try to get close, he pushes us back or uses his powerful breathing technique to blast us away.. How much more powerful can he get?!"

He thinks to himself before letting out a loud yell, holding back his Khakkhara with as much strength as he possibly could.

Karaku quickly runs over and holds onto Sekido to prevent him from being pushed back any further by the attack, the force of the attack is strong enough to make Karaku almost let go of Sekido, but he manages to keep his grip and stop him from being pushed back any further. The Hashira's attack was incredibly strong and powerful, but Karaku managed to help stop it from pushing him and the others more.

Both Aizetsu and Urogi notice the Hashira's powerful attack towards Sekido, who was being pushed back by the attack. They quickly rush over to Sekido and hold him still, joining in and keeping him from being pushed back more by the attack.

The Hashira's attack was getting too powerful, but with enough strength to hold Sekido in place, Karaku, Aizetsu, and Urogi were able to stop it, preventing any more push back towards him and further from the others.

Y/N hears Aizetsu and Urogi's calls for help and rushes towards them, wanting to stop the Hashira from hurting Sekido. She reaches them and grabs onto Sekido with them, trying to hold him in place.

("It's time to put an end to this.. I won't let the Hashira harm Reiko or Sekido in any kind of way!! No more of this!!!"

She yells loudly at the top of her lungs.

All five of them screamed together, unleashing their brand new Blood Demon Art known as "Emotional Collision", each of them using the same emotions of sadness, frustration, anger, Resentment, and hatred to collide with the Hashira, pushing him back with their combined strength.

Karaku uses as much power he could with the rest of his fellow demons, screaming loudly to release this new Blood Demon Art they've learned. He felt satisfied being able to push back the Hashira, but was still annoyed that he wasn't ready to give up yet. He glares at the Hashira, looking at him with a look of annoyance and annoyance.

— "This is getting ridiculous.. Why doesn't he give up yet?!"

He exclaims, still holding onto Sekido with his fellow demons.

Sekido's smile slightly widens at the sight of the Hashira struggling and starting to lose his footing, knowing that they are getting closer in defeating him. He is hoping that this means that they can finally defeat the Hashira and save Reiko now, as he keeps his Khakkhara held tightly in his hand and his face filled with anger and frustration.

"No.. No No NO!!!! THIS CANT BE.. I CAN'T BE DEFEATED BY SOME USELESS EMOTIONS!!! AND BY 5 DEMONS WHO LIKES TO HAVE THEIR ASSES TOUCHED AND CROTCHES SUCKED!!! IM THE BREATHER OF THE STARS!! A POWERFUL BREATHING TYPE... GAAAAAAAAAHHHH!!!"

Karaku hears the Hashira speak and couldn't help but laugh at the sight, causing him to let go of Sekido for a bit. He quickly recomposes himself while holding back some laughs, looking back at the Hashira before smirking, mocking the Hashira with his own words.

— "Oh, you can't be defeated by some 'useless emotions'? Oh, do tell; is that why you're acting like a big baby right now, huh? The mighty Hashira doesn't like the fact that he's being easily pushed back?"

Aizetsu saw an opening to attack, and he calls out to the others for one last attack.

— "Quick, everybody, strike him now! We can't let him recover and use that powerful blast of his again.."

He yells at his fellow demons as he charges towards the Hashira, wanting to take him down once and for all. He can't waste this opportunity at all costs, since this chance might not come at them again..

Urogi noticed both Y/N and Karaku wanting to tag-team and end the Hashira once and for all. He smirked at how they wanted to fight as a team to take the Hashira, even using their "Emotional Collision" technique on him, so he nods at Karaku and agrees to his plan about doing a tag-team against the Hashira.

— "Yeah, we can't give that bastard any more time to catch his breath. He's weakened, so now's our chance to finish him off."

"It's up to us to finish this.. We can't lose anymore time."

Y/N also agrees to Karaku's plan of a tag-team against the Hashira, grabbing her sword firmly in her hand to prepare herself for battle. She looks at Karaku and nods at him, now being ready to start this tag-team attack on the Hashira.

Sekido sighs knowing that they will have to tag-team against the Hashira and end this as fast as possible, and looks at the Hashira who's weakened by their team attack, the Hashira struggling to get up now from the attack that was powerful and fast to knock him off his feet and make him struggle to get back up. At first, he hesitates to help in attacking him, but he quickly nods and grabs the Khakkhara back in his hand to rush forward to help Y/N, Karaku and Urogi take down the Hashira.

Y/N quickly rushes forward toward the weakened Hashira, joining Urogi and Karaku in trying to take him down. She gets in front of the Hashira in order to protect her friends and fellow demons from possibly getting harmed again. She charges the Hashira with her blade, wanting to cut the hashira in this vulnerable state. With each of her attacks on the Hashira, she screams loudly and releases her rage and anger at him for kidnapping Reiko and causing their group to resort to these kind of actions just to take him down.

Urogi and the others are finally relieved to put a stop to this battle as the Hashira's head gets cut off by Y/N's strong attacks. The demons look at each other, breathing heavily at the end of the fight, before turning to look at Reiko.

— "Well, we did it. We did it! Now we can finally save Reiko.."

Urogi says, his voice sounding tired yet relieved as he looks at the Hashira's head on the ground, finally dead.

Sekido was the first one to reach Reiko, cutting her loose from the Hashira's back. He quickly catches her as she starts to fall and holds her tightly in his arms. He immediately tries to comfort her and calm her down, speaking in a gentle tone.

— "Hey.. Hey, it's okay, Reiko.. It's ok.. We're here now and everything's all right.. We beat him, Reiko.."

His eyes are filled with relief as he continues to hold her close, wanting to reassure her and let her know that she's safe now.

Aizetsu watches on from where he is, his eyes filled with sadness as he looks at the Hashira's headless body. He can't help but think about how sad it is that they had to kill him in the end, but also about how thankful he is that Reiko is safe and that they won, and he closes his eyes with a heavy sighs.

— ".. It's .. over.."

He whispers softly, his mind filled with many thoughts. He looks over to where Y/N is, wanting to see how she and Sekido were doing with Reiko.

In Sekido's arms, Reiko stops wailing and looks up at him to see his face, her eyes filled with sadness and tears.

— "..Sekido..?"

Her voice sounds tired and exhausted, but she is relieved that Sekido is still here with her.

— "We did it, Reiko.. We beat him.. It's all over now.."

Sekido smiles gently at her before looking over to the others, seeing how Y/N and Aizetsu are feeling at the end of this mission.

Karaku lays on the ground, his eyes closed as he sighs deeply and feels extremely relieved to have won the battle and accomplished the mission. His breathing is rough and it shows that he's very exhausted from using all of his power and strength to help take down the Hashira, his voice sounding hoarse and tired.

— "Heh.. We did it.."

His voice is soft as he continues to lay on the ground, taking his time to catch his breath once again.

Urogi lays on the ground tired and exhausted, yet, he is relieved that they were able to save Reiko and defeated the Hashira. He looks at Karaku and listens carefully to him speak about their victory.

— "It wasn't easy.. But we managed to win against all of the odds.. We were able to save Reiko.."

He sounds proud of their victory as tears roll down his cheeks due to exhaustion. He is still catching his breath and is extremely tired after using all of his power in that battle.

— "Heh.. Yeah, it was pretty tough, but…"

Karaku's voice is soft and he looks at Y/N hugging Reiko tightly with a smile on his face, glad they're now able to return to a normal life again and live without any worries about them.

— "I can't believe we managed to win in the end.. We really did it."

His voice sounds almost out of breath from all of the excitement and adrenaline that was left within him, but a smile spreads across his face.

Y/N hugs her daughter back and pats her on the head, trying to comfort her as much as she can.

— "Reiko… It's over now.. All of the danger is gone.. No more tears.. We can return home safely now.."

Her voice sounds soft yet tired and she can't help but tear up a bit after everything she's been through. She then looks over to see Karaku and Urogi laying on the ground, before looking back at and hugging Reiko tight once again.

Aizetsu limped over to Sekido.. Before collapsing out of exhaustion.

Sekido catches him with ease as he limps over and helps him sit up. He looks at Aizetsu and notices that he is very exhausted from the battle, but he seems glad to finally see him safe.

— "Aizetsu, it's over now.. You can take a break and rest now.."

He says to him while helping him lie down on the ground so he doesn't continue to walk as he can't help but show concern for him.

Karaku still lays on the ground tired, but he quickly gets up when he sees Aizetsu collapsing on the ground due to exhaustion. He walks over to him and offers his hand, helping him get back up.

— "Aizetsu, you need to rest. You took a serious beating here. Don't get up immediately. It's much better for you to rest now.."

He says in a calm and caring tone, showing concern for Aizetsu's well-being as he is a fellow member of the Upper Ranks.

Aizetsu looks at Urogi as he hugs everyone, relieved that the battle is finally over. He stands up fully and smiles at him with a nod, feeling content and happy that everybody is still alive and in one piece after everything they've been through.

— "Urogi.. I was worried about you too.. I'm glad to see you ok and happy.."

He says with a smile on his face, feeling at ease to see a fellow Upper Rank demon smiling and happy after everything they've just gone through.

Urogi wraps his wings around Aizetsu in a protective gesture and hugs him tightly as he continues to cry in joy, happy to see all of his fellow demon friends alive and safe.

— "I'm ok, Aizetsu. Thank you for worrying about me.. " Urogi continues to cry as he hugs him, happy to finally have this battle over with and for everybody to be in one piece again after everything that they've gone through.

Karaku was a bit surprised with the sudden kiss from Y/N, but he doesn't fight back and smiles slightly at it. He is still tired but seems to be happy to receive the kiss.

— "Y/N, you shouldn't kiss me even in public.."

He says to her with a teasing smile as he looks at her and blushes slightly from the kiss.

— "B-But.. I won't deny it did feel good.. "

He says to her with another teasing smile.

Urogi is surprised by the sudden kiss from Y/N out of nowhere, but he doesn't fight it back and feels content and happy to receive it. He wraps his massive wings around her and smiles at her as she kisses him.

— "Y/N, you're really giving all of us kisses, aren't you?"

He says to her while still smiling as he doesn't seem to mind the kisses at all. He is still a bit tired but feels happy after everything they've been through. He can't help but feel content and glad to receive it.

Aizetsu stares at Y/N before turning a bright red when she goes in for the kiss. He doesn't fight back against it and receives the kiss, but he is embarrassed by the action as he hides his face with his hands afterward.

— "Y/N, why are you doing this?! You shouldn't show affection like this with a demon like me.."

He says to her with his head down in embarrassment as he remains in his same position, feeling a bit more content and happy after the kiss but still embarrassed by it.

Sekido was surprised by the sudden kiss from Y/N, but he laughs at her action before being happy to receive it. He wraps his arms tightly around her and smiles at her, trying to act cool about the kiss while his face remains bright red.

— "Y/N! What are you doing, kissing everyone like this? Do you have a death wish or something?"

He says to her, trying to act tough and serious, but his voice is still soft for him to feel like he's complaining, and it seems like he's content with the kiss.

Y/N smiles lovingly at her daughter.

— "My child… I'm just so happy to see you and that you're safe now… There will be nothing to fear ever again, Reiko.."

Her voice sounds sad yet happy at the same time. She can't help but tear up by the thought that it was all over and that Reiko is safe and sound. She gives Reiko a tight hug as tears of joy roll down her cheeks.

All of the demons look at Y/N with a confused and surprised look on their face as they wonder what she's talking about, but their eyes light up when they realize that she wants to admit her feelings to each one of them. She looks a bit embarrassed and shy to admit her feelings, but she does so anyway, her eyes still tearing up with joy.

— "I.. I know everyone has been wondering lately.. About what I really feel towards each of you.. But I now want to say that I love you all.. I love you so much.."

— "…Y/N..?"

Aizetsu looks surprised as he is shocked to hear her say that she loves all of them. He looks at her shyly, as she is showing her feelings in front of everybody without being embarrassed. He looks at her softly with a smiling face as he is speechless and doesn't know how to reply back to her, still finding it a bit unexpected to see her say that in front of everyone.

Y/N smiles shyly at the demons before looking down and covering her face. She is ashamed from being honest about her feelings but she couldn't hold it in anymore and wanted to show her love for all of them.

— "I… I love you all so much…"

Her voice is soft and tender as she looks at the demons before burying her face into her hands once again.

Sekido looks at Y/N as her face is covered by her hands, thinking about what to say to her since she has just said to all of them that she loves them. He then looks at the other demons for a moment, thinking about how they could react to something like this. Sekido is embarrassed himself but can't help but blush and smile slightly as he feels content and happy, feeling very loved by her as well.

— "We… We love you too, Y/N.."

He replies with a soft voice while giving her a smile.

Urogi and Karaku also look over at Y/N and look down at her as she admits her feelings to them. Both of them blush slightly and seem slightly surprised by it as she looks to be genuinely honest with them about it.

— "Y/N, we love you as well.. "

Karaku says to her while smiling gently at her.

— "We love you too, Y/N.."

Urogi adds to the two voices as he smiles softly at her, feeling happy and content to hear Y/N speak about her true feelings

#demon slayer #karaku #aizetsu #sekido #urogi #hantengu clones #demon slayer urogi #demon slayer karaku #kimestu no yaiba #demon slayer x female reader #demon slayer kimetsu no yaiba #kimetsu no yaiba #kimetsu no yaiba x reader #karaku x reader #karaku x y/n #sekido x y/n #sekido x reader #urogi x reader #urogi x y/n #aizetsu x y/n #aizetsu x reader #x female reader #upper moon four

[overthinkingtaleblr]

This is the guy who runs Poltertoast, you had a tma taleblr au?! Pls pls tell more

I had a TMA Taleblr AU! I developed a lot of it with a close friend who had recently gotten into TMA at the time, and I still think about it a lot tbh. Basically the idea was ‘Taleblr, but the characters bend to the whim of TMA rules’ and was sometimes an exploration of how far things could go. We had a lot of antagonists as Avatars. And a lot of tragic ends…

Here’s some highlights so I don’t just throw the whole plot into your face all at once—

To begin: a part of TMA includes Jon dropping by the states, so if we want them to interact, it happens here. Maybe if he does his world tour earlier in the story, PIE can come back and get involved with the evolving situation right at the end of season 4.

Since the Avatars and other things done by the Fears are basically paranormal, PIE would start their exploration thinking it’s ghosts and stuff and come into a horrific realization as time goes on. By which I mean, similar to Jon, their search for answers has been turning them into the things they’ve been seeking to understand and maybe destroy.

CBF is a creature of the web, one who left a severe impact on Ghost after he survived it as a child. Probably based on the growing anxiety of how a child sees the world and how they may be tricked into allowing bad things to happen thinking it’s friendly.

Similar to Ghost, Spooker is also touched by the Fears before joining PIE. His dad ran a Desolation-based cult that’s boiled over and led to most of the members and some innocent people dying in a fire. One of the members ascended to being an avatar from it, but it still cut their member count down to two. While being touched by the Desolation, Spooker is eventually consumed by the Spiral, becoming an avatar similar to the Distortion.

The Toasts are a bit depressing. Johnny isn’t introduced to the fears until after joining PIE and even then he doesn’t fully understand what they’re chasing. At one point, he encounters a monster that seems to target twins and assumes that means it would be coming for him next, but the Stranger entity takes Gavin instead and the worst part to Johnny is that he didn’t notice the difference. Toast also starts leaning down a Hunt path that he either gets pulled out of or we get a free werewolf.

Entering this world with the least amount of context for anything, Chris’s reaction is to research as much as possible. Seeing as most of the people on the team are avatar-touched or aware that the avatars are willing to talk to them, Chris struggles not to see them as extensions of humans and can’t bring himself to the hunt-y mindset. He likely goes down the path of the Eye instead, learning and learning until that knowledge eats him. It would be funny if he and Jon met early on, agreed on the safety of their shared methods, and then reconnected after said method ate their humanity.

The Unicorns are inside of a Lightner— A ‘the last unicorn’ paperback that makes the reader consider themself.. One of the unicorns. I’m guessing it’s just Stardust in this situation (the book IS titled the LAST unicorn) but part of his goal would likely be making more. In a destructive manner— the book and the unicorn who possesses it are both aligned with the slaughter. in order for Stardust to stay around, the book has to stay open.

Spooker’s niece, Poppy, lives with her desolation-cult grandpa, friends with several young avatars, and a borderline caretaker of the Last Unicorn Lightner. Her alignment is to the fears themselves, and she thinks it’s funny to mess with PIE’s head. (She does not respect them, and kind of sees other humans as food for entities.) She may not be an active threat, but she is dangerous.

Light Zeron and James Maloney have similar stories, being so afraid of something that when they eventually managed to co-exist with their own fear, it made avatars out of them. Light is aligned with the Dark and Maloney to the Vast (bird-themed!), and they’ve both come to enjoy their new jobs, even as they still harbor the fear that fed their entity.

Maloney used to work with Princeton Quagmire, who (if I remember right) was centered around trying to find a way to destroy the entities. They haven’t consumed or taken to him just yet, but Maloney isn’t the first time he lost an employee. His other accomplices at the moment are Jenny Toast and ‘Officer Starbucks’.

Though it freaks her out a bit, Jenny and Maloney stay friends through his transformation. This likely does not bode well for her own fate…

Maxwell is an avatar of the Hunt, Aimee is aligned with the Lonely, and neither of them realize how deep down the rabbit hole they’ve dug themselves. Maxwell just constantly wants revenge, but his definition keeps changing, and Aimee doesn’t understand why she seems to be on a different path to the rest of the world. They’re friends with Poppy— even if they don’t understand what they’ve become, she supports the change.

I don’t remember considering the Acachallas, but Sally could easily embody the End and Spencer could be an incredibly powerful Buried avatar.

To anyone asking “Why were most of them avatars? Why not just kill them?” I like the trope of someone coming back Wrong, and that happens multiple times if the character is basically hollowed out and replaced by an entity of fear.

I might be missing or misremembering some things ^^; but YEAH— that’s the general vibe of the tma AU. I had a story in my head where Jon’s visit to the states was extended by encountering these mfers— including meeting Poppy Soup herself at one point, her being very coy about knowing something that Jon doesn’t, and him being confused about how someone who feels so human knows so much about what’s going on. His interaction with PIE probably devolves into an argument.

+ my old doodle from when i first announced this au

#taleblr #taleblr headcanons #taleblr Au #taleblr TMA Au #johnny ghost #johnny toast #taleblr pie #fred spooker soup #gavin toast #chris colon ghostie

[nescamonster]

Not terrible moment

So I am in love with @asterbae 's amazing Fic "Perfect Slaughter" on Ao3. Unfortunately I was not blessed with the artistic streak, all I can do is offer up is a non cannon, fanfiction of Their fanfiction to give the Boys a tiny sliver of a not terrible moment in their eternal lives cause boy does Tyrus and Astarion got it rough and i love it but also wanna let them take a breath.

Any who hope I didn't butcher the characters too badly, Don't judge on my work, check out Perfect slaughter for yourselves! (Though beware dead dove, definitely take in the tags before you read)

It had taken 87 years, but finally, the stars aligned.

Tyrus couldn't let the chance pass them by, as he didnt know when another perfect night would arrive. Cazador so rarely let Tyrus bring in prey, and rarer still on the same night as Astarion.

"Come, darling, I'll help you find a mark." Astarion called to Tryus as the spawns started dispersing after receiving orders.

"Surely he doesn't need his hand held anymore astarion." Violet teased, her sharp eyes going between them wonderingly.

"It's about not being punished. Do you think the master will stop at tyrus' incompetence or would he then look to the one who trained him?" Astarion gave a sarcastic tap against his temple, "i know you rarely use it darling, but if you don't stretch those mental muscles they will degrade you know."

Violet hissed, showing her fangs but she left without another word. No doubt fearing standing there arguing was eating into her hunting time.

Astarion flashed a victorious smile then looked more softly at Tyrus who happily fell into step beside the older vampire spawn. This was what he wanted after all.

"Lets try the elfsong for you I think." Astarion mused aloud only to raise a brow when Tryus shook his head, "oh? You've something else in mind?"

Tyrus had felt ill when he made this plan, but he knew now after so many years that there was no enjoyment without pain. His, astarions, someones. There had to be suffering to equal the scales.

"Homeless twins. Near the wyrms rock last I saw them." Tyrus wanted this part over as quickly as possible, "they run a scam where they pretend to be the same human, but their blood scent betrays them."

Astarions eyes lit up with interest and his step increased, "I guess we could spare an hour to look…"

Tyrus kept the pace, his eyes down and Astarion noticed, slowing slightly and clearing his throat to have the younger drow look up at him.

"Any particular reason why you've waited until now to speak of such prey?" A warning tone entered his honeyed voice, "you weren't attempting to spare-"

Tyrus couldn't help the burst of bitter laughter that spilt from his lips at the thought.

"This is the most selfish thing I have ever done." He admitted, "I saved them for when we could hunt together. I knew you would do better at securing them quickly."

"Well a night in our bunks is preferable too-"

"No." Tyrus was firm with his denial. He didn't do this, offering up innocent siblings so they could lay in the dark and wait for the next atrocity. Astarions step faltered but he caught himself and they kept moving at a quick pace through the city.

As Astarion stayed quiet, Tyrus knew he was waiting for an explanation.

"I-I wanted at least an hour… to-to show you something." Why were the words so hard to say? Why did astarions guarded look cut him to the core?

Tyrus was not well fed enough to blush, but he kept his eyes on the road they walked and pushed through, "i would like if we could secure our offering then- take a, a moment, before…"

No doubt astarion was burning with curiosity but tyrus was thankful he asked no more. Instead he had the drow direct them to these homeless vagabonds.

The twins were comely, by no means beautiful but their identical faces made for an interesting gimmick that was sure to please Cazador. Astarion took the lead, for which Tyrus was grateful.

He didn't need to do more than smile and wrap his arms around one woman's waist before her sister was drugged and asleep. She squirmed as she saw this, but Tyrus knew better than to let her go. He just held her still as Astarion force fed her the drugged wine and helped his fellow spawn stow them both in a secure location they could return to in an hour.

Astarion brushed off his doublet and smiled at Tyrus when the drow used his cantrip to clean the dirt desperate fingers had left on him. They were taking a risk not immediatly returning but Astarion said nothing of that, instead cocking his head at Tyrus.

"So, where too now?" He asked.

Tyrus lead the way, checking homes as they found one that didn't prevent them entry. An abandoned home filled with dirt and vermin that Astarion eyed with distaste and thirst warring in his face.

"You cannot be thinking of sneaking a drink." Astarion in an unbelieving tone, "you cannot be that dense even after all these years."

Tyrus was cleaning up a small amount of space, using the weave to clear the dirt and scare away the rats, "no,no. I would never." He shuddered, remembering with vivid detail the consequences of taking blood from anywhere but cazadors' hands.

Instead he sat down in the cleared space and pet the floor next to him. Astarion was cautious but less so than any of their siblings. He lowered himself with grace and looked about warily.

"A nice little hovel. I can see why you just had to show me."

Tyrus gave a shaky breath and smiled at the Spawn who had made the years just slightly less terrible then they could have been. He pulled from his pocket some fleece and reached into the weave as he spoke.

"Close your eyes for a moment, they might take a bit of time to adjust…" then he spoke the incantation, pulling the impossible through to the possible.

Astarion hadnt closed his eyes so it was with a fearful shout that he slammed his shoulders back against the wall as the major image illusion unfolded around them.

Grass sprung up, earsing the floorboards, as the world expanded, grey skies and dark trees filling a twenty foot space. Tyrus held onto his concentration even as Asatrion swore, gazing up a stormy sky just before the rain broke, sunlight diluted by the clouds but clearly day in a forest clearing.

They could smell the ozone, the scent of wet foliage strong in the air. A light breeze tingled their skin but no illusion could ruffle their clothes which stayed static in this moment. They could hear the soft rumble of the thunder and the rustle of the leaves. Tyrus turned to look fully at his companion once the spell was fully cast and was horrified to see tears starting to spill.

Astarion lifted a shaky hand to clasp over his mouth as his eyes were blown wide, taking in the sight. He had only shed two tears but as starved as they were kept, he may as well have been sobbing.

"Oh, I'm sorry! This-this was meant to be- i-i'll cancel it, hold on." Tyrus prepared to drop it, but astarions hand shot out, grasping his forearm.

"Don't you dare!" He hissed, "don't you give me this just to take it away!"

Tyrus stopped, then carefully and slowly placed his hands over astarions, nodding his agreement, "I won't. We can stay here for as long as… well twenty minutes or so anyway."

Astarion paid no heed to the time limit, instead taking in the view, seemingly trying to imprint it into his mind. He didn't move his grip, so Tyrus settled for petting Astarions hand gently and looking around himself.

"I don't remember… where this is." Tyrus felt he owed Astarion an explanation but it was difficult. So much was gone, so many important things.

"I think I had a family? And, and we were… i've no idea why i was here, or when… but i remember the storm" they both looked at it now, rolling lazily towards them, "i remember thinking it was beautiful."

"It is…" Astarion suddenly gave a choked laugh, "we can never speak of this."

"I know." Of course Tyrus knew that. Cazador was strict with how much access his spawn had to the weave. He'd be furious they had experienced even a second of sunlight, illusioned and storm dimmed as it was.

Tyrus looked down as Astarion moved his hand from forearm to clasp with Tyrus' fingers. The High elf looked him in the eye as he gentle brought the drows hand to his lips, a chaste kiss planted on his knuckles, featherlight but filled with emotion.

"Thank you… Tyrus…" Astarion sounded breathless, his voice hushed as another roll of thunder broke, "I will never forget this… thank you."

The image faded around them, a silence falling as reality reasserted itself. Astarion still had his hand and Tyrus realized that neither of them were breathing.

Astarion closed his eyes then took a shuddering breath before opening them, his face a mask of mischievous once more. He kindly returned tyrus' hand to its owner and stood in one graceful movment.

"We should be off"

"I-i have one more-" Tyrus stuttered, trying to offer another casting. He didn't want the moment to be over, did not want to return to their lives so soon.

Astarions smile was sad but kind as he offered a hand to the drow, "best not live in dreams darling, magnificent as they are."

Tyrus squeezed his eyes shut, feeling the burn of tears unshed for a long moment before he too let go of the dream. They had a single moment where they were not spawn, but free under an untamed sky. A moment that was as illusionary as the spell itself.

He took Astarions hand, standing and nodding. It was time to return to what was real for no amount of trickery would stop cazador from finding them if they didn't return themselves.

Their hands fell apart, palms still carrying the warmth of the other. Then the two left the hovel and went to collect their offering to their cruel master.

Above the city, a storm crackled, beginning to roll across the night sky…

#bg3 #fanfiction #fanfiction of a fanfiction #fanception #Perfect Slaughter #Let them hug damn it #but hugs are too much stimulation #let them hold hands damn it #love love love Tyrus #Love love love Astarion

[slasher-male-wife]

As an artist (I don’t just write fan fiction I write personal works and I hope to make movies one day) and also as a human being with empathy I feel it is incredibly important for me to put into my own words my feelings on what’s happening in Palestine.

I fill up my water bottle and I think of the millions of people in Palestine without access to clean water. I eat a meal and I think if the mass starvation and slaughter of innocent civilians who are trying to get access to food. I pass the toy isle at my job and I think of the millions of children who will never grow up because Israel murdered them for “the crime” of being Palestinians.

It’s my job as an artist and as a human being who tries his hardest to help advocate for those who need their voices to be heard I feel it is incredibly important for me to say I support a free Palestine. I want an immediate ceasefire, I want the genocide against Palestinians to stop.

Keep the pressure on your elected officials to call for a Ceasefire. Keep boycotting Starbucks, Mcdonald’s, Disney. Never forget the millions of lives lost because of the Genocide in Palestine.

#free palestine #gaza #free gaza

[eretzyisrael]

With no shame or sign of humanity, the enemies of Israel have doubled down on their insistence that Israel is an illegitimate state that must be destroyed and that the savage slaughter of 1,200 innocent Jews was justified—all based on five “Big Lies” about the Jewish state.

They condone savagery based on utter lies

What are the facts?

The world for Jews and Israel will never be the same. Wellesley College students receive official messages saying Zionists (i.e. most Jewish students) are not welcome in the school’s dorms. Hamas official Ghazi Hamad in a TV rant swears Hamas will repeat October 7 over and over until Israel is annihilated. West Bank Palestinian activist Ahed Tamimi says “What Hitler did to you was a joke—we will drink your blood and eat your skull.”

While Hamas’s October 7 atrocity shattered the hope of many Palestinian supporters, causing them to rethink their positions, the event only ignited an explosion of hate from other of Israel’s enemies. Tens of thousands of demonstrators made clear they no longer support two states living side by side in peace. Rather they demand “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free . . . by any means necessary”—meaning, clearly, slaughter of civilians.

Power of Big Lies: Though Israel was the victim of a mass murder of innocent Jews, its enemies blame the Jewish state—not only for the Hamas massacre, but also for responding in defense. The reasons many blame Israel for the atrocity are based on five Big Lies. Big Lies were used by Nazi leader Goebbels, who noted that if he told an outrageous lie often enough, people would begin to believe it. Alternatively, if you use truth as a basis for your judgments, you may these facts useful:

Lie #1:  Israel is a colonial state that stole Palestinian land. A colonizer is a foreign nation that conquers and exploits another nation. First, the Palestinians have never controlled any land in Palestine: They were also never a nation. Nothing was stolen. Second, Jews are the indigenous people of the land of Israel. They have lived there continuously for 3,000 years and had two commonwealths for over 1,000 years: They are not foreigners. No colonial state.

Lie #2: Israel commits genocide. Genocide is the intent to destroy a national, ethnic, racial or religious group by killing its members. Israel does not, nor has ever, targeted innocent Palestinian civilians for killing—no mass murders, no pogroms. All Palestinian civilian deaths have occurred as collateral damage while fighting terrorists who hide in residential or other public areas. Tellingly, the population in in and around Israel has mushroomed since Israel’s founding in 1948—from about 700,000 to seven million today: Zero genocide.

Lie #3: Israel practices apartheid. Apartheid is a system of legalized racial segregation in which one racial group is deprived of political and civil rights. Israel has no laws or policies separating or limiting the rights of any of its citizens—including two million Arab-Israeli citizens—nor any Palestinians outside Israel. Political and civil rights of all Palestinians outside Israel are controlled by their respective dictatorships, who allow virtually no freedoms, such as speech or the vote. No apartheid.

Lie #4: Israel is committing war crimes. War crimes include torture, hostage taking, acts of terrorism, rape and intentional targeting of civilians. While Hamas committed all these acts on October 7, Israel commits none. Though some media bristle at what they consider excessive civilian deaths during Israeli military efforts, in fact, Israel attacks only military structures and personnel—never civilian-only targets. Unfortunately, Hamas places its fighters in dense residential areas or in tunnels beneath them, endangering civilians. No Israeli war crimes.

Lie #5: Israel brutally oppresses the Palestinians daily. Oppression is the malicious exercise of power to discriminate against some groups. Because Israel completely exited Gaza in 2005, it has no power over of the daily lives of Gazans. However, because of Hamas’s continuous terror, especially efforts to kill Jews and destroy the Jewish state, Israel and Egypt have placed Gaza under a strict blockade to prevent terror attacks. Likewise, because of the Oslo Accords, Israel and the Palestinian Authority share governance of Judea and Samaria (the West Bank). Thus, Israel plays virtually no role governing Palestinians daily lives and only enters Palestinian-controlled areas when terrorists flee to and hide in them. No oppression.

Above all, Israel and the U.N. have made numerous offers of land for an independent Palestinian state. Unfortunately, the Palestinians have turned down five offers of land for peace since 1948, three of them over the last 23 years. Apparently, their dream of conquering Israel “from the land to the sea” is more important.

The bestiality of the October 7 massacre shocked us—beheadings, incineration, rape, torture, heartless executions, brutal kidnappings. Even worse, the gates have opened to unlimited Jew hatred on American streets and campuses—to condoning savagery with the excuse of Palestinian liberation . . . based on utter lies about the Jewish state. But Hamas and the haters should know that “Never Again,” means fighting and defeating evil forever.

#hamas #gaza #flame #the big lie

[k00299935]

DISRUPT- FINAL POST

What does "disrupt" mean to me?

(TW! MENTIONS OF SA!)

When I first heard the word I had no idea what disruption meant to me. But as I looked inward and wrote down various thoughts and ideas about the word, the answer was clear. We disrupt animals, so disrupt means cruelty. Disrupt means fantasized superiority. Disrupt means entitlment. We sexually exploit female animals for milk and eggs with forceful impregnation, disrupting their lives. We sexually exploit male animals for reproduction aswell. We kill baby animals if they are not useful to us, then eat them. We sentence baby animals that are useful to us to a life of filthy, inhumane incarceration. We disrupt, traumatize, abuse, and violently kill innocent creatures every single day. And people condone it. If we eat the meat of a slaughtered animal, we condone this. If we drink the milk and eat the egg of a sexually exploited animal, we condone this.

My project has been an exploration of hypocrosy, sisterhood, and cruelty. I had the chance to explore mediums I had not tried before such as embroydery and printmaking. Some turning out better than others, but all a learning expierience. This was an emotionally draining topic at times, and I considered changing it several times to something more palitable and easy. But I'm happy I stuck with it even when it was hard, and Im immensly happy with the work that has come from it.

I hope that my disrupt poject will inspire people to look at themselves and reconsider their values. Reconsider their diet. Even if its hard and inconvenient. You CAN make a difference, you can make an active choice to end your funding of animal cruelty. Disruption is a negative thing in the context of my project, but it can also be a positive thing. I hope this project has disrupted your view on meat and dairy, and has made you consider changing your diet for the good of all the animals who suffer on humanities behalf. Together we can work towards a future where animals of all kinds can be our freinds, not our food.

#disrupt #vegan

[voraciousvore]

The Half-Blood Giant (27/51)

Chapter 27: Meat

Hunter was ensnared by a conflicting tangle of emotions that he couldn’t even begin to parse. His resentment towards humans and his bitterness over being punished were overshadowed by the fact that he had almost killed someone. He was remorseful, but also confused. Hector should have been furious at him for nearly drowning him in the fountain when he couldn’t swim, but he had only shown clemency. Hunter failed to understand his behavior, especially when he had been so quick to defend his girlfriend in a hot-headed, obstinate confrontation. Above all, he was corroded with guilt, not just because of Hector but because of how he treated that tiny human girl. He knew he had acted unfairly and impulsively. She didn’t deserve to be the target of his wrath. She was innocent; she couldn’t help being human, any more than he could. 

His emotions were further complicated by his hunger. He woke up ravenous, and as he passed by the human dorm, he imagined ripping off the roof and stuffing fistfuls of humans in his mouth. He wondered what they would feel like if he swallowed them alive, fighting for their lives as they were forced down his throat into his belly—probably amazing. He had to physically stop himself from bending over to seize a biker as she pedaled past his shoe. He needed to eat. 

Since Hunter was on edge from being around other people, and his senses were further sharpened by his hunger-fueled predatory instincts, he was hyper-aware of his surroundings. He observed that he was getting hostile stares from other giants, and the humans were even more wary and skittish around him than before. He realized word must’ve spread of his misdeed in class yesterday, when he snatched up his smaller classmate.  

At least everybody was avoiding him, especially the humans. He got in line for breakfast and made a mountain of pancakes, biscuits, and ham on his tray. When he went to go sit down at his usual spot, he was immensely annoyed to find another student in his seat. He slapped his tray down on the table and glared at the comparatively scrawny giant. 

“This is my table. Get out of my seat and go somewhere else!” he snarled. The other student looked up at him, glanced over his burly, broad arms, and turned white. He hastily grabbed up his things in a rush and hustled off to another table, muttering an apology.

Hunter sat down with a smirk on his face and started to eat. Finally, he got relief for his famished belly. He wolfed down his whole breakfast with gusto, focused entirely on the taste and texture. He supposed the cafeteria food wasn’t that bad. At minimum, his mind was taken off of eating humans, or the stares of the students around him. Hunter didn’t feel like he belonged here; this place was all wrong. 

He finished his meal and stood up to put away his tray and go to class. As he sauntered through the cafeteria, he noticed giant students staring at him, whispering to their classmates nearby. He volleyed back a searing glare to anybody who looked his way, and their eyes dropped away with discomfort. Hunter sneered. He hated being the center of attention, but he did enjoy putting losers in their place.  

He had to sit near the humans again. Hunter was satisfied to see them tremble under his frigid gaze. The teacher glowered at him and he smirked back. His hatred and arrogance were beginning to overwhelm his guilt. He really didn’t do anything wrong, after all. For some reason, he was reminded of his grandpa’s war stories about slaughtering human soldiers, and he felt vindicated. He was right. They should fear him. 

The bell rang, and Hunter went to his next class. This time, he sat near the humans on purpose, just to watch them squirm. His breakfast digested quickly, as he was still a growing boy of exceptional stature, and he was already getting hungry again as he inhaled the intoxicating scent of his prey. As his mind wandered, and he tried to justify his violent behavior to himself, he spied a small human man scurrying into the classroom. He was clearly an adult, too old to be a student. He called one of the human students away with him and left. Hunter thought this was odd, but didn’t think much of it. 

As his belly processed its contents and emptied, Hunter counted down the minutes until lunchtime. The class was dragging on forever. The human student that had left class, a diminutive nerdy boy with glasses, returned, looking nervous for some reason. He climbed the stairs to the human desks and surveyed them, as if lost. Hunter observed him through his peripheral vision curiously, cupping his chin in his hand. 

“Is there… a human student named Hunter here?” the boy asked timidly. Hunter’s eyebrows shot up. The other humans looked at each other blankly. 

Hunter leaned over the humans. “That’s me.” A shudder ran through all of them, especially the kid who uttered his name, and all their terrified little faces turned up in his direction. 

For a moment, the boy was at a loss, until he finally managed to squeak out, “B-b-but Mr. Pablo is meeting with only the human students, not giants…” 

Hunter sighed. “Come with me, pipsqueak.” Without warning, he scooped up the tiny teenager in his palm and stood up. His classmate yelped out of shock but didn’t dare to make another sound as Hunter trudged outside the class. “Now, what’s this about?” 

The teenager fumbled with his glasses, panicking in Hunter’s palm. “Y-y-you must be m-m-mistaken, the h-human counselor is only s-s-seeing humans…” He was stuttering and shaking so bad as to be almost indiscernible. 

Hunter huffed again. “I am part human,” he confessed. The kid froze up with shock. Hunter leaned in, bringing his classmate dangerously close to his colossal lips and teeth. “You better not tell anyone, or else I’ll eat you. Understand?” The human, speechless, nodded frantically. 

“Good.” Hunter paused. “Where am I supposed to go?” The boy pointed down the hallway. He was unable to hold his arm steady. 

“The door down the hall on the right, with a hole cut out of the bottom corner,” he quavered. 

Hunter nodded curtly and hesitated, fixating on the helpless creature in the palm of his hand. For an ugly moment, he considered popping the student inside his mouth and swallowing him. He’d be the perfect little snack to tide him over until lunch, and he smelled tasty, almost like a hot dog. The boy’s eyes filled with moisture behind his glasses and he let out a soft whine of fear, as if he knew what the giant was thinking. Hunter sucked down the saliva in his mouth and mercifully allowed the boy to go, lowering his hand to the floor. The boy scampered out of his hand and back to the safety of the classroom as fast as his legs would propel him. Hunter felt a small stab of anxiety as he contemplated what he almost did. He didn’t want to dwell on it. 

He headed over to the human counselor’s office. Pedro, from within, felt the ground vibrate with his approaching footsteps but had no idea what was coming. He assumed Hunter was a human like the others. He thought whatever giant was clomping by would keep going, but the seismic rumbles stopped outside his door, the huge shoes casting shadows through the crack under the door. Pedro stiffened as he was stifled by the sinister, gloomy aura emanating from the other side.  

The giant teenager didn’t bother to knock and thrust the door open. Pedro’s heart jumped into his throat and a heavy blanket of ominous dread settled over him. Though he’d never laid eyes on this giant before, he knew right away who he was. He’d heard his exact description more than once from the scared humans whom the giant had bullied. All his features, from his dull reddish hair to his green eyes to his intimidating musculature, matched perfectly. Why was he here now? He couldn’t possibly have good intentions; Pedro’s pulse spiked as his heart began to hammer against his ribcage. He was defenseless if the giant had a hostile objective in mind. 

Hunter scrunched his nose with distaste. “A broom closet? Really?” He squinted down at the diminutive desk and chairs by his feet. “Pathetic.” 

Pedro turned white as a sheet but tried to remain outwardly calm. “Can I help you with something?” 

“You summoned me, or so I thought,” Hunter replied, his eyes narrowing with barely withheld belligerence. “I’m Hunter.” 

“Oh, there must have been a mistake. I’m only meeting with humans,” Pedro explained shakily. 

Hunter huffed loudly, thoroughly irritated with this same talking point being parroted to him over and over. “I am human,” he insisted with exasperation. “Well, half-human. To my great misfortune.” His voice seethed with vile spite. 

Pedro’s jaw dropped. “No, that can’t be possible...” he murmured. “How...?” 

Hunter flashed him a rancorous look for his impertinence before shaking his head. “My father is a giant, but my mother is a human. Don’t ask how, I don’t even want to know myself. I already know too much about the weird intimate stuff they do right in front of me. Gross.” Pedro thought it wise not to inquire further on this point. Hunter stepped into the closet and shut the door. His bulk filled most of the space. Pedro normally felt his office was too spacious, but now he was suddenly overwhelmed with claustrophobic anxiety. Hunter labored to lower himself into a sitting position in the cramped space. He ended up folding his legs in such a way that his enormous shoes fenced in Pedro’s desk on either side. He leaned over the desk, engulfing Pedro with his shadow, surrounding the small man with his gargantuan mass. 

Pedro started to pant with alarm as he realized he was hemmed in on all sides, like a cornered little mouse in the paws of a cat. Hunter could do whatever he wanted to him, and he wouldn’t be able to escape. Hunter bled off a malevolent aura that suffocated Pedro and weighed him down with a crushing force. He couldn’t move and struggled to even breathe. 

“Well?” Hunter boomed, snapping him out of his stupor. 

Pedro fumbled to recover and unglue his tongue. “Uh, yes, so...” He swallowed the lump in his throat with some effort. “I’m just here to address any concerns you might have, or if you need someone to talk to about your experiences...” 

Hunter scratched his chin and glowered. “Yeah, actually. I have a lot of complaints about this crappy excuse for a school.” He shifted his position in the tight closet with discomfort. His back was starting to ache from straining forward. Without asking for permission, he plucked Pedro out of his seat and lifted him up so he could talk to him while lounging against the wall instead. Pedro squealed and flailed as he dangled high off the ground in front of Hunter’s face. Hunter sneered, enjoying the man’s reaction. His belly audibly grumbled, making Pedro shiver at the baleful rumbling. The giant’s face grew serious. He was distracted with the human’s strong, appetizing scent permeating the space. 

“First off, the food here sucks,” Hunter proclaimed, spurned to the topic by his empty stomach. “I can never get enough to eat because it’s not very filling, and I’m always so damn hungry. Plus, it doesn’t help that I’m surrounded by humans that smell so tasty all the time.” He blinked and bit his lip, realizing he had let slip too much. Pedro gaped at him in horror at the implication of his words. Hunter’s stomach growled again, like the vocalizations of a famished beast. The giant imagined curling his tongue around the human, scooping him into his mouth and toying with him, swallowing him whole with a satisfying flex of his throat. He licked the saliva off his lips. 

“That’s another thing. Too many stupid humans at this school,” Hunter complained, trying to move on to another topic. “I hate humans. Worthless little creatures.” By this point, Pedro was too scared to argue or point out Hunter’s hypocrisy. His mind had gone completely blank with terror. All he could comprehend was the enormity of the giant all around him, how small and helpless he was pinched in the giant’s fingers, and the gurgling of the deadly void within that massive body that clamored for him to get inside. 

“And I hate everybody at this school. Everybody keeps staring at me like I’m some sort of freak.” An unexpected sharp pain contorted his features. “I guess because I am.” He shook it off and scowled. “I just want to be left alone. I don’t want to be here anymore. Or anywhere. I don’t belong anywhere. I hate everything. I hate myself!” His voice rose as he became more impassioned. Pedro wished he could say something, but his jaws were cemented together with tension. Hunter’s uncontrolled wrath, when he was held prisoner in the giant’s hand, terrified him. He flinched as Hunter’s huge stomach gurgled noisily again below him. Hunter stopped his tirade and stared at the human intensely. Hungrily. 

“I wonder what humans taste like,” he said softly to himself. He was sorely tempted. He was just so hungry. Hunter wasn’t done with his impossible growth spurts, but he didn’t have his father here to cook for him all the time. The human’s scent was all around him, so tantalizing, his flesh beckoning. His mouth watered as his lips and teeth parted in anticipation. Pedro turned deathly pale at the sight of the dripping darkness within as Hunter drew him in closer. 

Just then, the bell sounded off to signal the beginning of lunch. Hunter stopped. The sound had returned him to his senses. He gulped and set Pedro back down in his chair. “I need to go,” he muttered, wiping his mouth on his sleeve. He struggled to stand back up and rushed out the door, shutting it behind him, the vibrations nearly knocking Pedro out of his seat. 

Pedro sat at his desk in a stunned silence, unable to move. As the unsettling interaction sank in, he trembled uncontrollably and hugged his arms tightly around his body, as if trying to defend himself. That student had awakened in him a primitive, animalistic fear that he’d never experienced before with such raw potency. In that moment, he hadn’t felt like a person, with thoughts and feelings and a soul; he had the self-awareness to realize that, to the hungry giant, he was nothing more than a living piece of meat. 

Chapter 28

Chapter 1

#g/t fearplay #gt fearplay #the half-blood giant #vore writing #vore stories #giant #g/t #giant/tiny #g/t writing #tiny #giant tiny #size difference #g/t vore #g/t story #gt vore #macro micro #vore story

[marienomad]

Whumptober 2023 Day 8

The Tribble Trials of Commander Paris

Disclaimer: All characters belong to Paramount.

This is written for day 8 of Whumptober 2023.

The Tribble Trials of Commander Paris

By Marie Nomad

Commander Tom Paris had been in many situations. He had traveled through different eras, been captured, and cloned, and even started a salamander species with Admiral Janeway. Now he found himself in the strangest situation he had ever faced. Dressed in his Starfleet uniform and wielding a Bat’leth, he stood beside his wife, B’Elanna, and his little girl, Miral. Ever since returning to Earth, he had vowed to support his daughter in her Klingon celebrations. Not only was Miral the "Chosen One" among the Klingon people, known as the Kuvah'magh, but Tom also wanted to show that he accepted her Klingon heritage.

He still remembered the trio of Klingons who had appeared bearing gifts: gold-pressed latinum, a Qapla’ Medallion, and a Memory Crystal filled with Klingon Operas. He had safely stored the latinum for when Miral was older.

Now he was among other Klingon parents and their children in the middle of the plains. Although these children had not yet hit Klingon puberty, there was no doubt they could beat him up if they wanted to.

“Commander Paris, Commander B’Elanna, Miral,” Commander Worf greeted them, dressed in ceremonial garb. “Thank you for coming to the Tribblemey QotmoH.”

"Yeah, I've never done this before," B'Elanna pointed out.

"Neither have I," Worf reassured her. "This ritual was common in the 23rd Century during the Great Tribble Purge. It used to be a rite of passage until the Great Klingon Empire annihilated the tribbles." His lips parted, and he growled. "That is, until a foolish changeling smuggled one back to the present after we prevented a... timeline disruption. Quark even sold tribbles to the Federation, granting them their own homeworld again. We can't bomb it, but we are allowed to cull the tribbles using only blades." He glanced at Tom. "Can you even harm a tribble?"

Tom couldn’t lie, the piles of purring Tribbles at a distance look really inviting.  He just wanted to dive in and reenact the one picture of Captain Kirk being buried by Tribbles.  Those tribbles look so adorable and he wanted to cuddle them.  But he is here to support Miral and B’Elanna with the whole kill tribble tradition.  His stomach turned. He really didn’t like the idea of watching the poor innocent tribbles get killed.  “I volunteered for this.  I don’t know if I could actually kill them but I won’t get in anyone’s way.”

“I’m here to bond with my son, Alexander.  I thought that if we do the Tribblemey QotmoH together, we could get closer.” Worf pointed to Alexander who was warming up.  The young man looked fully grown with a beard and he was practicing his form. 

"That's... nice," Tom replied, looking down at Miral, who had her own child-sized Bat'leth. "I'm not sure if Miral will be able to kill any tribbles. She's three-fourths human, and the tribbles might actually like her."

M'Rek, the head Klingon, clad in a multi-colored fur coat, approached them. In his hand was a glommer, a creature known to eat tribbles. "Welcome to the Tribblemey QotmoH! Slaughter the tribbles and bring honor to your house! Skin them, eat them, and turn them into a coat as a trophy. Make sure you bring great honor to your house," he said, gesturing to his own coat. He then looked at Tom, the only full human among the Klingons. "Oh! A human! Can you even raise your blade against a tribble?"

Tom stood taller as the other Klingons stared at him. "I AM TOM, SON OF OWEN OF THE HOUSE OF PARIS! I GO WHERE MY WIFE AND DAUGHTER GO! I KILL WHAT MY WIFE AND DAUGHTER KILL!"

"Ah, not even Captain James T. Kirk could kill a single tribble when they infested his ship," M'Rek chuckled. "This should be most interesting."

Tom tightened his grip on his Bat’leth as the drums began to sound. His wife and daughter were visibly excited. Even sweet little Miral seemed almost savage, her Klingon blood apparently giving her an appetite for the battle ahead.

"Begin!" M'Rek roared, and the Klingons—including Tom—charged toward the piles of tribbles. Screeches filled the air, making Tom want to cover his ears. Miral let out a gleeful scream as she began her attack. At least she was fitting in with the other Klingon children. Now all Tom had to do was avoid embarrassing her.

He paused before a tribble, captivated by its tranquilizing coos and purrs. "It's not sentient, it's not sentient," he muttered, closing his eyes and thrusting his weapon downward. The tribble screeched. Tom felt his stomach churn and fought back the urge to vomit.

"Hey, are you okay?" B'Elanna called, pausing in her own bloody work.

"Just stay with Miral. I'm just a weak human, remember?" Tom said, dismissing her concern. He moved to another tribble, steeled himself, and thrust down again. Another screech. He clenched his stomach, fighting nausea. Looking up, he saw Worf and Alexander, jubilant in their slaughter, and felt a wave of vertigo wash over him. What was it about killing these creatures that was affecting him so deeply?

Sweat pouring down his face, he approached another tribble, Bat’leth in hand. Each kill seemed to add an intangible weight to him. He recalled reports about tribbles affecting humans neurologically—was that why this was so difficult? Were the tribbles defending themselves through some sort of psychic manipulation?

"That's enough. You've killed two; that's a record for a human," M'Rek declared, placing a hand—covered in tribble blood—on Tom's shoulder. "I'm impressed you even managed one. You shall henceforth be known as 'Tom the Killer of Tribbles.'"

Tom looked into M'Rek's eyes, his own a mixture of relief and shame—relief that he could finally stop, and shame that he had felt so conflicted in the first place.

"Thank you, M'Rek. This was not an easy task for me."

"It's easy for a Klingon to kill a tribble. It's in our blood. But for a human? The struggle is intense. I've killed many tribbles in front of humans; they even protect the tribbles from me, even when the creatures are infesting their ships. Not even the oh-so-logical Vulcans can resist the tribbles."

"The Vulcans?" Tom repeated. He couldn't imagine that Vulcans would lose control over the tribbles.

"Yes, they hide the tribbles, claiming logic. No humanoid species, except for Klingons, can resist the tribble's spell. Take pride in your kills. Here, have a drink. Don't worry, it's safe for humans," M'Rek offered Tom a flask.

"Thanks, I appreciate the words of encouragement." Tom drank from the flask. It wasn't bloodwine or anything alcoholic, but more like a juice. "Wait, is this prune juice?"

"Warrior's drink."

"Of course."

He looked over to see B'Elanna and Miral gathering their 'trophies.' "Daddy! Look at all the tribbles I killed!" Miral gushed.

"I see! You'll make a nice coat!" Tom congratulated her. "I... killed two." He glanced at the two tribble corpses, small compared to the massive amounts that the Klingons had gathered.

"I'm impressed," B'Elanna said, smiling at him. "I've realized I hate them. They're adorable, but I just... hate them."

"Commander, you killed two tribbles!" Worf congratulated him, carrying his own kills. "Impressive. A human can't kill tribbles."

"I... I'm sure there are other humans who have killed tribbles," Tom said, confused. "Tribbles have been causing trouble for years. There must be humans who have killed a tribble or two."

"Not in the records. Humans usually gather them, contain them, or even use transporters to beam them to Klingon ships, but they don't kill them," Worf stated. "Even when the tribbles infested Deep Space Nine, Captain Sisko wouldn't let me hunt them, and he's... intimidating. No doubt there will be a song about 'Tom, the Killer of Tribbles.'"

"Two tribbles. Just two," Tom said, starting to feel embarrassed. "Please, no songs about me being the 'Killer of Tribbles.' I can picture Harry hearing about this and having everyone sing that song wherever I go."

"Why not? Killer of Tribbles," B'Elanna laughed. "You should be honored. It's not every day that a human gets a song from the Klingons."

"Daddy! Can we make a coat out of my kills?" Miral asked.

"Sure thing," Tom said, helping his family gather their kills.

M'Rek stood on a platform. "The culling is over, and many tribbles have been defeated! They'll respawn, but we've made a dent! Today, there's hope! We've witnessed a human killing TWO tribbles! This is a day of great honor! I'll commission an opera in 'Tom, the Killer of Tribbles' honor!"

The Klingons roared as they faced Tom.

"I'm... never going to live this down," he muttered, waving awkwardly at the cheering Klingons. He was pleased to earn a song in his honor, but most importantly, he had made his little girl proud. That was all the honor he needed.

The End

#whumptober 2023 #No. 8 #outnumbered #Tribbles #Star Trek #Klingons #star trek voyager #tom paris #b'elanna torres #b'elanna x tom #fanfiction